The Baboon King and the Cherry Blossom
by SourFox
Summary: Byakuya is quite content with his life as a resident priest at the shrine. With Gin, a kitsune, as a friend, times are never dull. With the arrival of a mysterious cloaked figure at the dead of night, things are about to get more interesting for Byakuya. AU. Yaoi
1. Prologue

**Title: The Baboon King and the Cherry Blossom**

**Rating: M**

**Summary: Byakuya is quite content with his life as a resident priest at the shrine. With Gin, a kitsune, as a friend, times are never dull. With the arrival of a mysterious cloaked figure at the dead of night, things are about to get more interesting for Byakuya.**

**Warning: This story contains yaoi.**

**Prologue:**

Byakuya pushed himself off of the wall, turning towards the broom. A breeze blew past, picking up some of Byakuya's hair along with it. Just what he needed – wind. At least it was nearing the end summer, and not yet autumn, otherwise all his sweeping would have been for nothing. He took a spare hair tie from the small pocket in his kimono sleeve and quickly tied up his hair before it could get knotted by the breeze.

"I should go and check on the smaller shrines," he said to himself.

What else was there to do? The morning prayers were done first thing in the morning, and there were no religious ceremonies scheduled for the rest of the day. The garden had been tended to just three days ago. There were no pressing or even minor repairs that required his attention. Byakuya was almost at a loss. He did his job of maintaining the grounds and the shrines too well. He still had three hours before his before he needed to head into town. He could only occupy himself that long with sweeping, even if the shrine grounds were vast.

Byakuya gathered the broom and various other cleaning items and put them away in the storeroom. He quickly stopped in the bathroom to make sure his hair was in a respectable state. After all, he was the only resident kannushi at the shrine so he had to make sure he was presentable in case any shrine visitors chose to approach him. It would be very poor of him to tarnish the Kuchiki name due to an unkempt appearance.

Looking in the mirror, Byakuya noticed that his cheeks were flushed from the breeze. The weather was definitely starting to get colder. He tied his hair properly and inspected his clothes. As expected, his white kimono and purple hakama were clean and proper. Finding nothing else to fix in terms of his appearance, Byakuya left with a small cloth tucked into his kimono and strolled leisurely through the grounds.

Byakuya slipped on his zori sandals as he stepped out of the house, taking a quick look at his surroundings. The house was kept separate from the main shrine by a fence and a hedge of bushes. As it was with all other shrines in Japan, there were a lot of sakaki trees, sacred trees used to house the kami, but the grounds were dominated more by the variety sakura trees than anything else. The fuyusakura, winter cherry blossoms, would start blooming by the start of winter. While he was out and wandering around the grounds, Byakuya figured he might as well do a general inspection on the sakura trees as well.

The main shrine was actually an Inari shrine, but the smaller shrines Byakuya went to were dedicated to other kami and were scattered about on the grounds, which was uncommon as far as shrines went. They were usually gathered around the main shrine. When he had asked his grandfather about the matter, he had simply said that the smaller shrines had been their longer then the main shrine. The shrines themselves were small and only needed to be dusted off, but Byakuya didn't rush the job. The kami all needed to be paid their proper respects, even when cleaning the shrines, he couldn't do it in a disrespectful way.

With one shrine left to clean, the shrine dedicated to Konohanasakuya-hime, the goddess of cherry blossoms and the protector against volcano eruptions. Byakuya was grateful. It was undoubtedly his favourite place in Tokyo. The sakura trees there, when in full bloom, were the most beautiful. It was also near a natural waterfall where a large shidarezakura tree stood watch over the water with its branches drooping down over the rocks like a curtain.

Climbing the last stretch of the hill, Byakuya paused at the top of it, and just looked at the grove of sakura trees for moment. He played in the grove frequently as a child, and later he helped his father with the general upkeep of the grounds. His family had looked after these grounds for generations, centuries if the local tales were to be believed. Byakuya grew up knowing that he would have to become a priest and that there was little room for foolish things such as dreams in his grandfather's eyes. He was content with it. He was only one left to carry on the family name and its duties after all. Rukia was far too young and had too much free spirit to be bound to the shrine. Hisana had already passed over years ago.

Besides, Byakuya managed on his own, well, he supposed that things had been easier since Hinamori had applied to work at the shrine part-time as a miko after school. Sena had been quick to take HInamori under her wing. There were other kannushi who worked at the shrine, but Izuru only worked as a priest part-time and Ukitake didn't work as regularly due to his illness. That also made Byakuya the jōkai, the head priest.

"Ne, Byakuya-kun?"

Byakuya wanted to frown, but he wouldn't give that damned fox the gratification. Keeping his face as neutral as possible, he looked up and found Gin perched on one of the sakaki tree branches with a sly grin on his face.

"What do you want?" Byakuya asked, walking forward to clean the shrine.

Gin tucked his fingers under his chin. He was the shrine's resident kitsune, a messenger to the kami. He liked following Byakuya around when he had the time, because what better pastime could there be than trying to vex a priest?

"Aww, 'a've been gone for a few days an' I don' even get a simple 'hello' from ya."

Byakuya stayed with his back facing Gin. He was trying to focus on cleaning the shrine and he didn't need nor want a flee ridden kitsune prattling in his ears. Byakuya thought that after all these years he would be able to tune Gin's voice out and treat it as simple background noise. He had yet to figure out the trick to getting it right, so he was stuck with listening to every little titbit of gossip from the spirit world.

Gently wiping off dust that had gathered on the plague, Byakuya made a closer inspection to see if the ink needed to be reapplied. It looked like it would last until New Year's. He removed cobwebs that had been spun inside the shrine did another quick inspection to make sure he didn't miss anything. As he was finishing up, Byakuya noticed that Gin hadn't said a single word since he had turned his back to the fox.

Standing up straight, Byakuya dusted himself off. "Is there something bothering you, Gin?"

Gin leapt down in front of Byakuya. Looking down at the priest, Gin opened his eyes. It was something he rarely did. Byakuya never really understood why Gin went around hiding his eyes all the time. He thought it might just be something kitsune did. The way he was being looked at now didn't sit well with him.

"How 'ave you been sleepin' lately?" Gin asked.

Byakuya was almost taken back by the question and the seriousness with which it had been asked. He had expected some witty or childish remark. He didn't know if Gin actually wanted an answer, or if the kitsune was yanking his chain in some sort of way.

Without saying a word, Byakuya walked around Gin, not answering his question.

"Oi! Was that too simple a question?" Gin asked, skipping along behind Byakuya. "Ok, 'ow 'bout your dreams? No? Any strange yearnings then?"

Byakuya continued to ignore his companion. Yearnings? Knowing Gin, he probably meant it in a sexual manner. He wasn't going to answer any one of those questions. He had been able to see Gin since the day his grandfather had passed away when he was six, but that didn't mean he understood the creature.

"Not gonna answer me on those either are ya?" Gin asked rhetorically. "Fine, did ya know what day yesterday was?"

Now Byakuya had had just about enough. He stopped in his tracks, nearly causing Gin to walk right into him.

"Yesterday was a Tuesday, you fool," Byakuya said coldly. He had expected the kitsune to start cackling, like he usually did.

"Wrong," Gin whispered. "Yesterday was the 27th of June."

That was not what he had been expecting, but Byakuya wasn't all that surprised either.

"What would that have to do with me?" It made have seemed like a rather harsh comment, but to Byakuya it was rather redundant in the grand scheme of things. As long as he could look after Rukia and continue working as the shrine's resident priest, little else mattered.

Gin laughed, with a sly smile on his face. "The 27th of June is a very important date. I'm surprised ya don' know 'bout it. Ginrei shoulda told ya 'bout it. "

Gin had obviously been expecting some sort of reaction by now, but Byakuya wouldn't give him the gratification just yet.

"Fine, I'll give ya a hint," Gin said, putting a finger to his lips. "Someone died yesterday, give or take 'bout four hundred years ago."

"Excuse me?"

What could Byakuya say, really? Here was a kitsune, messenger of the Inari and other kami, telling him that someone died four hundred years ago. One hundred and fifty people died each minute, meaning one hundred and fifty-one thousand six hundred people died each day. So the statement in itself was nothing special, especially if it was someone that had died four hundred years ago. Gin might be a messenger of the kami, but Byakuya knew that he also loved his tricks, and the priest often found himself the target of said tricks. Gin couldn't have been anymore vague. Was it someone important? Could it have been an ancestor of the Kuchiki family or one of Gin relatives?

"Ya heard me," was the whimsical reply. "C'mon, follow me."

Gin walked back to the sakura grove, making a b-line for the waterfall. Byakuya didn't follow at first. He waited to see if Gin had anything malicious planned, but the kitsune was walking like he always did. He had a spring in his step and swayed his tails from side to side excessively as he walked. Byakuya wished that Gin could have forgone the humming though.

Reluctantly, Byakuya followed. Gin was waiting at the edge of the lake, his white kariginu sleeves and tails moving with the breeze. It was in that moment that moment when Byakuya actually saw Gin as a mythical creature and not an annoying friend. He knew that Gin was powerful, but the fact that he was on such friendly terms with the kitsune caused him to sometimes to forget that important fact.

"Ya see that tree up there?" Gin asked.

Byakuya didn't need to look to know which tree he was referring to.

"You're talking about the shidarezakura, I assume?"

Gin turned his head and smiled at him, his eyes open. "The very one."

Byakuya looked up at the tree. Since it was summer, the blossoms had long since fallen and the green leaves had grown in their place. The shidarezakura almost looked like a weeping willow tree in summer. Looking at it for a moment longer, Byakuya thought he would find a wondering soul floating about its branches, but there was nothing.

"And, are you going to telling me why I had to follow you here?"

Gin had his usual grin in place. "It's a pretty tree, isn't it?"

All Byakuya did was blink, and Gin was gone. Standing alone at the water's edge, he looked up at the shidarezakura and the waterfall. He had always had a nostalgic feeling towards this place. Byakuya frowned. There wasn't any obvious spiritual presence, but there were traces of it, and it was unlike the kind that Gin left behind.

Not seeing what Gin wanted him to see, Byakuya returned to the main shrine and was glad that there were no visitors. Not that he didn't want them, because he would never say no to their donations, be they food or money. He just wasn't in the mood to deal with people, or kitsune for that matter.

Byakuya put all his supplies away and checked the time on his phone. He hadn't realized that he had spent so much time cleaning the shrines. He had just enough time to change and be in time to pick up Rukia from school. He went back to the family home and changed into a pair of jeans and a plain long-sleeved t-shirt.

"Ne, Byakuya-kun?" Gin asked when the priest walked out of the house.

"Lounging on the roof again I see," Byakuya remarked, hoping to dodge any more pointless questions.

Gin swayed his tails from side to side as he stretched out on the warm roof tiles. "Wha' can I say? It's the bes' spot fer sunbathing."

Rolling onto his stomach, Gin watched Byakuya put on his shoes. The latter chose to ignore the kitsune. He should probably buy the annoying creature some dried permissions on the way home. That would at least shut him up for a few hours, nearly three if he bought a large packet of them.

"Watch over the shrine until I get back," Byakuya ordered.

Walking down the steps, Byakuya set off to Rukia's elementary school. With any luck, he might get in and out of there before any of the single mothers or nannies noticed him. He was always accosted with gifts or marriage proposals, and lately, the women had started trying to get to him through Rukia. Byakuya couldn't believe that some women, not all mind, tried to use his 5 year old sister.

Byakuya made it to the school with a handful of minutes to spare. He looked around and found that many of the usual crowd of woman actually appeared to be waiting for him. Luckily, before any of them had the chance to approach him, the final bell rung and children came running out.

"Nii-sama!"

Rukia ran towards Byakuya and hugged him around his legs. He really should talk to her about behaving when in public. Taking her hand, Byakuya started their walk back home before anyone decided it was a good idea to have a chat with him.

"Is Gin-san back yet?" Rukia asked, looking up at her brother.

"He returned earlier today," he said.

"He won't be sleeping when we get back home, will he?"

"You'll have to wait and see," Byakuya said. It was not the first time that he wondered why Rukai was able to see Gin or other creatures of the spirit world, but he still liked to wonder over it occasionally. "But, we first have to go to the store to buy some food for tonight."

"Okay!"

**O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O**

Byakuya was glad for some time alone. Rukia had been put to bed and Gin had wondered off somewhere. The two of them together were certainly a force to be reckoned with. The noise level alone would drive anyone else mad.

Quietly, Byakuya slipped out of the house and walked around the grounds. He liked going for a leisurely walk at night before bed. The breeze from earlier was back and he regretted not taking a jacket with him, but he had walked too far to bother going back for one now.

The wind aside, it was a beautiful night. Byakuya was constantly around people during the day, helping shrine visitors or spending time with Sena and Hinamori or Izuru and Ukitake when they were around. He also had his hands full with Rukia most of the time. Late at night was the only time Byakuya was really alone. Normally, that would have been fine, rather, he would welcome it, but in the last few days he found himself feeling lonely.

Byakuya took a moment to take in his surroundings. He was further away from the house than he intended to be. He was also near the waterfall and the shidarezakura. Not really thinking on anything particular, Byakuya walked up a separate path to the top of the waterfall and sat at the base of the sakura tree. It wasn't the oldest one on the grounds, but it certainly had the most spirit energy gathered around it.

Taking in a deep breath, Byakuya started to relax. The sound of the water, chirping crickets and the breeze blowing through the trees was truly relaxing. After a while, Byakuya's mind started to wonder to what Gin had said earlier.

Someone had died four hundred years ago. That person, whoever they were, was somehow connected to the shidarezakura in some way. It certainly wasn't a malicious spirit that needed to be exorcized; otherwise it would have made its presence known long ago. Byakuya wasn't the most experienced onmyouji, since he was only 26 years old and his grandfather had died twenty years ago before he could really teach him anything. His father had not inherited any form of power, not even the Sight. Luckily, Ukitake Jūshiro had joined their shrine as a young priest and was himself an onmyouji. He was able to teach Byakuya what he knew.

There was nothing other than a lingering feeling of sadness and the traces of another creature. Maybe Gin was just playing a trick on him, as usual.

**Hey, SourFox here. I hope you all enjoyed the prologue. I thought I'd dip my toes into something different and try writing a fanfic. I know I was vague on a few things, but I hope there was enough to pique your interest to stick around for the rest of the story.**

**Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated.**


	2. Candy Bearing Stranger

**Title: The Baboon King and the Cherry Blossom**

**Rating: M**

**Summary: Byakuya is quite content with his life as a resident priest at the shrine. With Gin, a kitsune, as a friend, times are never dull. With the arrival of a mysterious cloaked figure at the dead of night, things are about to get more interesting for Byakuya.**

**A/N: I'd just like to say thank you to eliza, Guest 1, Guest 2 and PaulaGay for reviewing and to everyone else who put an alert of fave on the story.**

**Guest 2: This story will not feature male pregnancy, but it might feature in another story if I can come up with a reason plausible enough to allow male pregnancy.**

**Chapter 01: Candy****Bearing Stranger**

"Wha' did I tell ya?"

Renji regarded the kitsune with a glance before he pulled the fur cloak about his body to guard himself from the cold. He didn't like kitsune on principle, but even he could admit that they were resourceful at times.

From the shadows Renji watched the young kannushi sit beneath the sakura tree. It was still too early to hope. The young man certainly looked like one from the Kuchiki. Really, what had they been reduced to? The Kuchiki had been a powerful samurai clan not too long ago, and now they were simple shrine keepers. It was pitiful.

"You might not have lied to me," Renji started, "but, his appearance doesn't automatically make him the right one. Unless there's something else you're not telling me?"

Gin grinned at the youkai, tossing around a satsuma citrus like a ball. Renji really didn't like his face. It always had a fixed expression. He had come a far way at Gin's request, but he didn't really see a reason for him to linger in the human world, much less on shrine grounds.

"Well, I migh've left out a teensy lil' detail," Gin said with an annoying drag in his voice.

Renji glared at Gin from beneath the baboon skull on his head. "What?"

"Go back to the house an' look inta the third window on the second storey on the south side."

Renji had had just about enough of the kitsune. Grabbing Gin by the collar of his hitoe, Renji pulled him off of the branch next to him and let the kitsune hang. After a few moments, Renji pulled Gin up so that they were face to face. Renji was strong enough that Gin's weight was barely noticeable, but that didn't mean he wouldn't lose his grip and let the kitsune fall a few hundred metres. The damned fox still had the gall to casually toss his fruit in and out of his hands, using his magic to make it float around Renji's head.

"I see ya eyes from 'ere ya know," Gin informed him.

It wasn't that Gin hadn't seen his face before; it was just that Renji had taken a habit of hiding underneath the skull for the last handful of centuries. The skull only covered him from the top of his head to his cheekbones. The fur was still attached to the skull, and was long enough to cover his entire body. It had actually been a close friend of his that had died. It would have been a waste if he hadn't used the fur and bones.

"What I am going to find in that house?" Renji asked.

"Wha'll be the point in me tellin' ya?"

Renji simply let go of Gin's hitoe and let him fall. It wouldn't kill him, but it would shut the fox up for a while. Gin hit a few branches on his fall down, but managed to create an anti-gravitational bubble around the estimated spot of impact. Renji was disappointed. He stared down at the kitsune as he floated around above the ground like he was swimming underwater.

Renji looked over to the kannushi one more time. The young man might not possess the same battle prowess or noble wealth as his ancestors did, but the human was still as fine-looking as they were. There was definitely something nostalgic about watching the kannushi sitting beneath the tree. It was an unwelcome feeling.

Sighing to himself, Renji made his way to the house Gin talked about. It took him less than a minute to find the house. Leaping from the tree, he crouched down onto his haunches, staring up at the window on the second storey. He wasn't actually going to go in; he would just look inside through the window. Digging the heel of his palm into his temple gave Renji a few seconds to consider if he was actually going to go through with it.

Kitsune were notorious throughout the spirit world as tricksters, and those were the good kind that were usually merchants or messengers by trade. The bad kind, the nogitsune, were merciless, malicious beings that worked as thieves or mercenaries. Now Gin having shiny silver fur was a sure-fire way to tell he was a regular kitsune in service to the kami. Knowing all of that didn't stop Renji from having doubts. The last time he had went on just Gin's word almost ended disastrously. Needless to say, he was now rather skittish around lucky cat statues.

Quietly, Renji jumped up and grabbed onto the end of the roof, hanging from it as he tried to look inside. It was useless. He couldn't see a thing with the curtains drawn.

"What a pain," he said to himself. "I could've been at home by now."

Renji dropped onto the windowsill and propped his chin up in his palm. What to do? He could always open the window, draw back the curtains and look inside, but at the same time, he could also just go home. Renji had to admit though, he was curious about what was in that room.

Turning on the balls of his feet, Renji faced the window and quietly slid it open. It wasn't even locked. Carefree humans. Reaching out, he pulled the curtain aside. Renji frowned when all he saw a bedroom. Even though it was night, Renji could see the room clearly. The room was cluttered with stuffed animals and drawings – it looked like a little girl's room.

"What is that damn kitsune trying to get at?" Renji asked.

The bed was empty. Renji wondered where the kid had come off to. It probably the kannushi's kid, but he was still curious about why it would be significant. Hopping in from the window, Renji picked up a large stuffed bunny that was tucked in under the duvet.

"Let go of Chappy!"

Renji only had time to turn his head in the direction of the voice when something ricocheted off of his baboon skull. A small, dark-haired, blue-eyed girl stood in the doorway, hurriedly making another paper balls to throw at him. Renji stood there staring at the girl with the stuffed animal still in his hands. She couldn't have been older than six and yet she stood there, bombarding him with paper balls to try and get her toy back.

The fact that she could see Renji was a big deal, even if she was the kannushi's kid, she still shouldn't have been able to see him because the power of Sight was only passed on after the predecessor's death. He also decided that she either really wanted the bunny back, or she had never heard of youkai before, because Renji knew that his appearance was the furthest thing from friendly. He was wearing his fur cloak, and that hid entire body, so it made him wander what her reaction would have been if she would see his actual appearance.

Renji walked towards her and smiled when she stopped throwing things at him, but stood her ground, looking up at him with big, angry eyes. Wasn't that just cute? As he got closer, he could see her face more clearly, and froze when she looked him right in the eye.

_She looks just like-_

"Hey oji-san," the girl said, "you better give Chappy back or I'll tell Nii-sama on you!"

Renji looked down at her and crouched down to her level. He held out the toy at arm's length, waiting to see what she was going to do. The girl snatched the toy and ran past Renji and jumped onto her bed, holding the bunny to her body like shield.

_So, she's isn't the kannushi's kid, but still related._

"Che, must be some special toy if you attacked me with nothing but paper, kid," Renji said, hoping to start a conversation to get some information about her and the kannushi.

"Chappy isn't a toy, he's my friend! Nii-sama gave him to me," the girl all but shouted.

"If you say so."

The girl stuck her tongue out at him. The brat was cheeky, Renji would give her that much. He sat down near the bed and reached into his cloak and opened the inro her kept tied to his obi and withdrew a small purple pouch filled with candy. He didn't particularly like candy, but he had developed a habit of carrying them around for those of his companions who did. He took a few of the coloured star-shaped sweets for himself and threw the pouch at the girl.

"Nii-sama says I shouldn't take candy from strangers," she said with a pout, obviously wanting to at least taste the sweets.

"It's not my problem if you eat 'em or not," Renji answered. "You got a name kid?"

The girl tossed a piece of candy into her mouth and smiled as it dissolved into her mouth. "You got a name oji-san?"

"I asked you first brat!"

"I shouldn't tell my name to strangers," she said, popping a handful of candy into her mouth.

"Cheeky human brat," he mumbled. "It's Renji."

"I'm Rukia. Kuchiki Rukia."

Renji watched as Rukia ate more of his candy. She seemed more interested in the sweets than the fact that there was a youkai in her room. Renji sat there in silence. That sense of nostalgia was back with a vengeance. Renji grimaced as a sour taste filled his mouth. He must've eaten a green star. If there was something he liked less than candy, it was sour or bitter flavoured candy. He used to carry them around for a friend and used them as a bargaining chip, but that person was long gone. He couldn't help but be a people pleaser.

"Is there something wrong with your face?" Rukia asked.

"No, there's nothing wrong with my face," Renji answered. He knew she was referring to the baboon skull, but there was no way he was going to tell a human girl why he wore it.

"Are you ugly?"

"No."

"Then why do you wear a funny mask?"

"It's not a mask," Renji said, pulling the skull lower until the fangs scrapped against his cheeks. "It was a friend." That actually had nothing to do with the reason why he wore it, but it was just something to distract her with.

"Like Chappy?"

Renji didn't really understand the comparison. The stuffed animal was an inanimate object, his used to be a living, breathing creature. Then again, he was talking to a little human girl, so he doubted she would understand if he tried to explain it to her.

"Yeah, like Chappy," he said lamely.

"Where do you come from?" Rukia asked.

Renji smiled. "Somewhere far away from here."

"Do you visit the shrine a lot?"

"Nah, I don't like them that much, and kannushi don't like me much either."

Rukai looked confused. "Kannushi?"

Renji sighed. He knew that a language barrier would come up sooner or later. He was talking to a kid after all.

"Kannushi, they're people who work at shrines, like your brother, a priest."

"So, Kira-san and Ukitake-san are kannushi too?"

Renji sighed. This kid liked to ask questions.

"I dunno, maybe they are if they work here."

Rukia looked at the bag of candy in her hands. "If people like Nii-sama don't like you, then are you a bad person?"

How was he supposed to answer that?

"I used to be a bad person," Renji said, thinking back to his younger days.

Rukia moved around on her bed, pulling the duvet around her, the bag of candy still in her hands and Chappy in her lap. The kid looked too cute.

"You said you were a bad person, so you're not anymore, right Renji-san?" Rukia asked. It almost looked like she was desperate for his answer.

"No, not anymore," Renji said with a shrug. "But, if people look for trouble with what's mine, then I become a very bad person."

"I don't understand."

"Of course you don't. You're, what, four years old? You should still be blowing snot bubbles for fun."

Rukia scrunched up her face as she got angry. "I'm 5 and a half! I'm a big girl!"

"Right, and I'm the Spirit King."

Renji saw a shadow moving in the corner of his eye. What could that be? It couldn't be anything malicious or powerful because there were various barriers placed around the shrine grounds and especially around the house. The only reason Renji was able to pass through freely was because he knew this type of onmyoudou. He was also on good terms with Gin, the shrine guardian and messenger. If it happened to be a powerful youkai, it was probably one that had been sealed away by an onmyouji and recently broke free and now sought revenge upon that onmyouji's descendants. It was not an uncommon occurrence.

Hearing a drawn out yawn, Renji looked back to Rukia, who looked just about ready to fall asleep, but was trying very hard to stay awake.

"See, you're still a kid, and kids need to sleep," Renji said, getting up from the floor. He walked over to the window, hopping onto the windowsill.

"Wait, Renji-san!"

Next thing Renji knew, the kid was trying to pull him back into the room by the bottom of his cloak. She would never actually succeed in pulling him back in with her own strength, but he saw that shadow again. Turning back in to the room, Renji picked Rukia up and put her in bed, keeping his eyes on the shadow between two stuffed animals. A small figure appeared between the gap. It was a small ikiryou, the size of his hand. They usually served as servants for powerful youkai, kami and mononoke. This ikiryou was dressed in red, pink and green – the colours representative of its master. Renji knew those colours.

"What is it brat?"

Rukia looked at Renji with her big, blue eyes and pout. "Do you have to go?"

"Yeah," he said, "I've got a home too, you know?"

Rukia started to pout even more.

"But," Renji couldn't believe he what he was doing, "who knows? I might be back in a few days."

"Really?" Rukia's expression changed so suddenly, it looked like someone had flipped a switch.

"Hey, I'm not promising anything, I'm a very busy man, but don't lock your window at night, okay?"

"Okay!"

Renji rushed out of the window before he performed any more acts of stupidity. He really shouldn't have opened that window.

**O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O**

Byakuya closed the door behind him. It was almost midnight. Stepping out of his shoes, he went to the kitchen to get a drink of water and headed upstairs. As he passed Rukia's room to get to his own, Byakuya froze. Traces of energy were clinging to Rukia's door. Byakuya felt his chest tighten. He didn't know how anything could have gotten past the barriers, only Gin could do that. He pulled a sheaf of fuda from his back pocket, ready to bind anything that maybe in Rukia's room.

He opened the door, expecting to find a mononoke or youkai, but was surprised to find nothing but a sleeping girl. Byakuya frowned. The energy left by whatever had been in the room was red in colour and mainly gathered around a spot on the floor, near Rukia's bed and something she held in her hands.

He went over to Rukia's bed and gently extracted the object she was holding to her chest, which for once was not Chappy. Byakuya looked at the pouch in his hands. It was made form purple silk and particularly light in weight. Turning his attention to the window, Byakuya noticed it was unlocked and quickly locked it, making a mental note to add an additional barrier later. He shut the curtain and left the room quietly.

Deciding to forgo sleep, Byakuya went to his study. He prepared four fuda seals and placed them around the pouch on his desk. He wasn't about to risk losing a hand when he opened it. Quickly, he opened the pouch by its drawstrings and pulled his hand back. Nothing had manifested itself. That was good.

Putting his hand back within the confines of the barrier, Byakuya took the end of the pouch and emptied it out. Dozens of coloured candy stars scattered over his desk. He had seen many things that were kept in silk pouches over the years, such as severed fingers, hair and cursed objects, but never candy.

Picking up a green star, Byakuya examined it more closely. It didn't look like anything he had ever bought for Rukia, and if it had been a gift from a friend at school, then it was very unlike Rukia to keep it from him without offering to share. Then again, what child would put candy in to a silk pouch as a gift? It seemed more like something an adult would do.

He looked over to the strips of fuda paper that acted as a barrier. They hadn't reacted at all when the candy spilled out from the pouch. It was probably safe to say that they weren't poisonous, or so he hoped. He knew Rukia was weak to resist any type of candy, she was still a child after all, so he would have to examine her in the morning to see if she had suffered any ill effects from the candy.

Rolling the candy star between his fingers, Byakuya wondered if he should eat one, just to see if it really did have any side effects. Without thinking anymore on it, he put it in his mouth and felt a shiver run down his spine when an intense sour flavour swept over his tongue. It certainly didn't taste bad. He waited another moment of two and when nothing happened, Byakuya reached for another green star.

_I'm only testing to see if these are safe for Rukia to eat,_ he told himself. _Besides, she hates anything sour._

**O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O**

The next morning, Byakuya examined Rukia for any kind of fever or unexplained blemish on her skin, but luckily there was nothing to worry over. She was still herself. He had returned the pouch of candy to her room before he woke her up, but now it was missing all the green stars.

Byakuya was busy preparing breakfast while in the kitchen while Rukia packed away her bento box into her back pack. He noticed that she put in the pouch of candy in as well.

"Rukia?"

"Yes, Nii-sama?" she replied politely.

"Where did you get that candy from?" he asked.

Byakuya watched as Rukia set the table. She was now suddenly very immersed in the task.

"Rukia."

"There was a strange man in my room last night. He was wearing a funny mask, but he wasn't a bad person, he gave Chappy back to me and even gave me the candy," she said in a flurry.

"Did he want anything?"

Rukia shook her head. "No, but he said that Nii-sama wouldn't like him very much."

Byakuya put down the steamed rice, miso soup with aburaage and tamagoyaki at the table and sat down, looking at Rukia.

"Oh, and why would that be?" he asked.

"He said that priests don't like him because he used to be a bad person, but he really isn't!"

Byakuya found that interesting. If the creature had said that he wouldn't like him, then it meant that the creature had a bad association with kannushi, which made the possibility that the creature was a youkai or an oni even greater.

"Did this person have a name?" he asked.

"Yeah, his name is Renji."

That name didn't sound familiar to Byakuya, but he knew who would be able to help him.

"Let's eat before the food gets cold. Itadakimasu."

They ate in silence. Byakuya did the dishes while they waited for the time to pass. Once that was done, he took Rukia to school, but stopped before he let he disappear into the school.

"Rukia, I want you to keep this with you at all times, wear it around your neck and don't take it off unless you're at home," Byakuya said, pulled a small green omamori from his pocket. He had made it last night and adjusted it so that it could be worn as a necklace underneath clothes. He had cast all the protective spells himself, as well as folded the rectangular green paper casing himself. The entire charm was put into a rectangular cloth that he had stitched shut. It was decorated with 3 different coloured sakura blossoms and had the shrine's symbol stitched on it as well. It looked like an ordinary omamori, but it was three times more powerful.

He slipped it over her head and put his hands on her shoulders.

"If you see anything strange, no, if any of the ayakashi approach you or act differently around you, I want you to tell either myself or Ukitake. Do you understand?"

"Yes Nii-sama."

Byakuya could see that she wanted to ask him questions, but the bell had rung and children were going inside. He let her go and went off, making his way back to the shrine, but took a detour to the neighbourhood mom and pop store. He stood in front of the store, glaring at the sign that read: Urahara Shoten. He tried to avoid the place as much as possible, but sometimes he didn't have a choice.

He opened the door and walked past the various displays and shelves of candy and toys, heading straight for the cashier's counter.

"Ah, Kuchiki-san, what an unexpected pleasure it is to see you here in my store," Urahara said as he came out from the storeroom. "What can I do for you today?"

"What do you know about these?" Byakuya asked as he held out a see-through packet containing some of the candy that the youkai had given Rukia.

"My my, what do we have here?" Urahara smiled and gestured for Byakuya to walk on towards the back and into his home.

Once they were seated by the kotatsu, Byakuya handover the candy and Urahara immediately held one up and put it in his mouth. He really didn't understand that man. What if the candy had been cursed or poisoned? He watched as Urahara put another candy in his mouth, this time a green star.

"Sweet and sour candy," Urahara mumbled. "What were they in?"

Byakuya showed him a photo of the pouch he had taken with his cell phone.

"Well, this is definitely candy from the spirit world, but they don't come mixed like this," the shopkeeper said. "Another is that silk like that, and in that specific purple is quite expensive. Where did you get it?"

"A youkai gave it to Rukia last night while I was outside on the grounds," Byakuya answered. "However, Rukia was able to get a name from the youkai. She said his name is Renji. Should this name be of any particular interest to me?"

"Firstly, his full name is Abarai Renji, and secondly, he is a very powerful nue youkai. I believe, however, that he has no interest in harming either you or your sister."

"How can you be sure?"

Urahara tipped the brim of his hat down slightly. "I can't be sure, but the fact that you and your sister are in possession of that pouch of candy should be proof that he won't harm you. I've heard stories that he keeps it on his person at all times, so it is curious why he would choose to hand it over to Rukia, especially if he knew she was protected by an onmyouji such as yourself and Ukitake-san."

Before Byakuya could ask any further questions, his phone rang. It was Ukitake.

"Yes?"

"Byakuya, someone requested our services. They suspect it's a vengeful spirit. Will you be able to accompany me tonight?"

Byakuya wasn't keen on leaving Rukia alone, but he did need all the practice he could get when it came to onmyoudou, and the fact that he got paid for it didn't hurt either. "I will see you tonight at the shrine gates."

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. So, I put in a two little tributes to two other manga/anime series and I'm curious to see if anyone can spot them, granted that one is a lot more obvious than the other. For those who don't know, a kannushi is a Shinto priest and an onmyouji is like a sorcerer or exorcist, they are capable of cast spells and creating shikigami to do their bidding. An ikiryou is a living spirit.**

**Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated.**


	3. Crossing Over

**Title: The Baboon King and the Cherry Blossom**

**Rating: M**

**Summary: Byakuya is quite content with his life as a resident priest at the shrine. With Gin, a kitsune, as a friend, times are never dull. With the arrival of a mysterious cloaked figure at the dead of night, things are about to get more interesting for Byakuya.**

**A/N: This chapter is about two months late. Sorry about that. I'll try to stick to a stricter schedule from now on. Thank you to Eva Galana, CallMeSenseiKuchiki, Renjimaru87 and Renji-Bya-Lover for their reviews and everyone who put up alerts and faved this story.**

**Chapter 02: Crossing Over**

It had all gone wrong. Nearly everything that could have gone wrong with the job had happened in the first twenty minutes when Byakuya and Ukitake had arrived at the construction site.

Byakuya pressed his hand to his side. A long piece of metal debris had pierced right through the left-hand side of his body, and now it was stuck. It seemed like it had avoided any major arteries, but he couldn't be too sure. He knew that as it was now, jutting out of from his back and front, it stopped the bleeding, but it also meant he couldn't move. If he couldn't move, they would find him sooner or later, and he would be killed. He needed to find a first aid kit.

Sitting up against a wall, Byakuya tilted his head back a little and looked at his surroundings. It was dark, and he could barely make out the crates, forklifts or the other construction material. He guessed that he was in a storage room that was a little further away from the main area of the construction site.

_There has to be something I can use_, he thought. Everything in sight was either a crate or large tools that were useless to him.

Looking down at his person, Byakuya saw that some of the buttons on his shirt had torn off, and his jeans were dirty and torn in a few places. He could try and remove his shirt and use it as a makeshift bandage. It would take time, and it would be painful, but it was the only option that he seemed to have at present.

Awkwardly pressing his left hand around the debris, Byakuya started to unbutton his shirt with his right hand, pushing off of the wall to sit forward. His abdominal muscles trembled at the sudden movement, making the pain worse. Byakuya ground his teeth together and let out a low groan, trying to control himself.

Byakuya grabbed the right side of the shirt and tried to pull it off, but he could only get it past his shoulder. Taking a portion of the shirt into his mouth, he used the grip his teeth had on the shirt as leverage to free the rest of his arm from the sleeve. It was a struggle because of the awkward position and the pain in his side, but he managed to get his arm free. He stopped for a moment to try and get his breath back before his proceeded.

Carefully, he separated his shirt from his undershirt, both wet and stuck together with blood. He quickly put his left hand back, pressing as close to the debris as he could without jarring it. It was more difficult to remove the last part of his shirt when the material caught against the other end of the debris. He had to tug it free, causing the debris to shift and widen the wound.

"Damn," he cursed with a shaken voice.

He quickly tore up his shirt into a long strips and put them in his lap. Once he removed the debris he would have to act quickly to minimalize the bleeding that would follow.

Byakuya tried to get the best grip he could, but the piece of metal was slick with blood. He ground his teeth again and started to pull it out. It hurt, but he didn't have any other choice if he wanted to survive. He pulled with all his strength, but it only moved a few millimetres at a time. He started to bleed again, but not by much. It seemed like he had overestimated the damage that had been caused by the metal, but it still hurt. Pausing, Byakuya took a deep breath and then took hold of the metal with both of his hands and pulled.

The debris didn't move for a moment, but then the entire length of metal pulled free. Unable to help it any longer, Byakuya let out a cry of pain and folded in on himself, pressing his head between his knees, keeping his hands to the wound. Blood trickled through his hands, so with shaking fingers, Byakuya tied his shirt strips over the wound as tightly as he could. It made the pain worse, but it did slow the bleeding a bit.

Satisfied with his work, Byakuya leaned back against the cold wall. He just sat there for moment, not worrying about anyone or anything. He could have easily stayed there and given in to his exhaustion, but the moment passed and Byakuya started getting to his feet, using the wall behind him for support. Once he was confident he wouldn't fall over, Byakuya walked about the storeroom, his posture a little hunched, with his right hand over his wound. First he needed to find some sort of equipment to defend himself with. Only after he had accomplished that could he worry about Ukitake.

As he picked his way through the crates, Byakuya found a prybar, tool belt, flashlight and a nail gun. It was certainly not the equipment he was trained to handle, but having lost his bag, long with his tanto and bow, Byakuya was not spoiled for choice. Buckling the belt around his waist, he put the prybar and the nail gun in the slots so that they would be easier to carry around. Byakuya took four extra magazines for the nail, just in case.

When he switched on the flashlight, Byakuya made sure to not shine the light near the window, or too high. He searched the room for a map, and found one that was fixed to the wall. He quickly tried to remember where he and Ukitake had gotten separated. It was quite far from his current position. The construction site was large, so Ukitake could have wondered off somewhere else, but Byakuya needed to start somewhere. Byakuya memorised as much of the map as he could before he left the storeroom. He inched closer to the door, switching off the flashlight. He peered through the open door, looking for signs of the demons they had encountered.

Byakuya and Ukitake had come to the site, under the impression that they would be dealing with a nogitsune or an oni, so they were ill prepared for the demons. Creatures of foreign countries were easiest to slay with weapons from their country of origin, and the demons from the western parts of the world were no exception. The Kuchiki clan had a large cache of weapons from all over the world stored underneath the shrine grounds in a place called the Archives, but he had no way of getting those weapons now.

Seeing no sight of them, Byakuya cautiously walked on, looking this way and that. His steps were careful and as quiet as possible. He needed to go across an open area between the offices and storage rooms to get to the construction site. From there, he needed to head up to the second level and hope that Ukitake had not gone too far. It was still hazy how he had found himself so far away from that point, but at the time he concentrated solely on running away from the demon that had been chasing him.

Byakuya walked to the edge of the last storage room and stopped, looking out at the open expanse between him and the construction site. It was three hundred meters of ground that had nothing that Byakuya could use to hide behind if he encountered a demon. It would be problematic. He knew that at least one of the demons was capable of long ranged attacks. Usually, that wouldn't have been a problem in the first place, but he had lost all the fuda paper he had brought with him, so he could not summon up shiki to act as he defence or offense.

Putting his back to the wall, he took a moment to gather his breath and watched for any of the demons that could be patrolling the area. He didn't actually know how many there were, but he knew there was more than one of them, but he was not foolish enough to think he could take them head-on, not in his current state.

"You've finally come out to play, human."

Byakuya's blood ran cold. He looked up and saw the demon that had been chasing him earlier sitting on the roof. He couldn't make out its shape too well, but he didn't have the luxury of observation at the moment. Acting quickly, he shone the flashlight up at the demon, momentarily blinding it. He noted that the demon had a feline-like appearance and had blue hair. Taking the nail gun in hand, he aimed at the demon and fired. Most of the nails bounced of its armoured body, but one or two nails hit the open expanse at the demon's chest.

The demon shrieked and reared back from it position over the side of the roof. Byakuya took the opportunity to run, forgetting his previous fear of the space between him and the construction site. He ran as fast as his injury would allow him. He could still hear the demon's cries of pain, but he knew that it would regenerate quickly. He only managed to get so far because the demon had not expected the attack. He needed more than a prybar and a nail gun to kill a demon, like a silver sword, or anything that was silver pointy really. Western demons had a lethal allergic reaction to silver, so if Byakuya somehow managed to get his hands on something as small and ridiculous as a silver spoon, he could do a great deal more damage to the demon.

As he neared the skeletal steel structure of the site, Byakuya heard the demon let out a loud shriek. Shooting a demon capable of regeneration with a nail gun was perhaps not his brightest idea, because now the demon was angry. Angry demons liked to play with their prey.

Without stopping, Byakuya continued to run in the general direction of the elevator. If he retraced his steps, he might be lucky enough to find his bag, but Byakuya knew it was just wishful thinking. He rounded a corner when he stepped on something.

Against his better judgement, Byakuya paused to look down and picked up what looked like a shard of bronze metal. As far as he could tell it was definitely part of a larger design from its rounded edge and the fine decoration along the edge. Shaking his head, Byakuya pocketed the shard.

_Why did I stop to look at that shard?_ he asked himself. It didn't make sense. He was in a life-and-death situation, and because of that, he should not have gotten distracted by a pretty piece of metal.

He heard a disgruntled sound not too far from him. It sounded nothing like the demon, so Byakuya inched closer to the source. It was dark inside the building, but he could only make out the silhouette of the figure lying on the floor. As he got closer, Byakuya noticed the smell of drying blood, and a heavy, ash-like odour that hung around the figure.

The figure moved and looked up at Byakuya. It was the oni that he had been sent to deal with. It was male, bald and had some sort of markings by its eyes, but what defined it as an oni was its smell and the two horns that protruded from its forehead. It wore a tiger skin wrapped around its waist, with a red sashinuki hakama.

"The mirror," the oni said as he lifted his hand, reaching out to Byakuya. "Give… back."

Byakuya quickly backed away and ran again. He rounded another corner and stopped. He looked around. He had been there before. He recognised the nest of twisted barbed wire that lay in the corner. Byakuya took a deep breath then decided to go back the way he had come. _I just took a wrong turn_, he told himself.

Byakuya didn't run as fast as he had before so that he could more carefully observe his surroundings, but he would be lying to himself if he said that that was all it was. He was tired and in pain. He slowed down to a walk as he neared the place of his entry to the building. So far, Byakuya hadn't seen or heard the demon and he knew better than to think that he had frightened it off.

Looking ahead of him, Byakuya expected to see the large steel beams of the exterior of the building, but all he saw was a half-finished wall and the familiar barbed wire in the corner.

"Shit," he whispered.

It was seldom that he swore, but Byakuya had foolishly walked into a trap. He knew that from the current circumstance that he had been placed under an illusion of some sort that affected his senses and those were tricky to break free of.

"Is the little human lost?"

Byakuya jerked into motion and ran. The demon had caught up with him. He had hoped that he had bought himself enough time to Ukitake, but he now realised that it had been foolish to hope for such a feat. He just ran, not caring where he would land up, as long as it was far away from the demon. It was useless. He ran into the same large room each time, not matter how many times he changed his direction.

"Keep running little human," the demon taunted. "Try to find your human friends. Try to escape your fate."

Byakuya put his shoulder to the wall and pressed a hand to his wound. The makeshift bandage was wet with blood. He would start to feel dizzy from blood loss sooner or later. He looked around and saw that there was a lamp hanging not too far off. He was sure that that was not there before when he had entered that room for the first time.

"Has the little human given up?" the demon asked.

Byakuya did not have the strength or need to answer. He heard a thump as something landed near him. The light from the lamp was just enough for him to see the demon that was scant metres away. The armour he noticed before seemed natural from the way it was segmented and warped around the demon's body, and the blue hair was long, going far past its waist.

The demon stood up from its crouch. It regarded Byakuya with bright blue eyes, much like a predator would its prey.

"We weren't expecting to find humans like you here," the demon said. "We were told that only weaklings wandered around here, scaring humans for fun. It's a nice surprise."

Byakuya glared up at the demon. He didn't want to make small talk, and if it insisted on any more of it, he would have to resort to talking with it. Byakuya glanced at the demon's chest where the nails had pierced it, and found that the wounds had already healed completely.

"What? Nothing to say, human, or are you scared?" it asked. The demon flicked its long feline ears as it gave Byakuya a malicious grin. "Looks like your soul would make a good meal - pure and young. Delicious."

Byakuya slowly reached for the prybar. A nail gun would be useless when it came to close combat due to its bulky size, but the prybar would do even less damage to the demon in the end, but he had to try didn't he?

"Who are you?" Byakuya asked. He held the prybar at the ready as he waited for the demon to answer. "I expect an answer."

"You can call me Grimmjow," he said.

Byakuya watched wearily as Grimmjow walked to the side and titled his head in a playful manner with a feral grin spread on his lips. Byakuya waited for Grimmjow to make the first move, even in his current state, he would not be the one to initiate the fight. It would be an insult to him as a onmyouji and a Kuchiki if he had to stoop down to a demon's level.

"Come now, Grimmjow," a deep voice said. "Do not be taunted by his arrogance."

Byakuya felt his breath hitch in his throat. Without giving away his surprise, he turned his head to the side and saw Zommari Leroux, a well-known and feared witch doctor. Byakuya had fought with the man once before, about three years ago, to drive him out of Japan. He had barely survived that fight. He never thought that Zommari would return to Japan so soon.

"You are the reason for the demons' appearance?" Byakuya asked.

Zommari regarded Byakuya with a face of indifference. "Yes, I am the one responsible for their summoning."

"What is your goal?" Byakuya enquired. "Why summon demons to attack youkai?"

"My goal?" Zommari held his hands behind his back and stepped forward into the light cast by the lamp. He wore skull shaped earrings and a bone necklace that rattled faintly as he walked. "I have no goal. I'm simply following the path laid out before me."

Byakuya stood his ground, holding the prybar in his right hand. He was caught between Zommari and Grimmjow. Zommari was closer, but if Byakuya attacked him, the demon would be free to go for his back, but there was not a chance that he would attack Grimmjow head on.

"I'm certainly an easier target, yet you still stand there," Zommari commented. "Is it perhaps that you fear the demon?"

Zommari looked to Grimmjow. "Go find the other onmyouji, he should not be far."

"I want to play with this human," Grimmjow snapped. "The other one is sickly and his soul isn't as strong as this one's."

"That was an order, not a request."

Grimmjow growled, and stared at Zommari in the eyes. Zommari looked back at the demon, not blinking the entire time. With a snarl, Grimmjow inclined his head and left. Byakuya looked back at the witch doctor. He did not expect Zommari to have had that much control over the demon. Had they established a contract?

Zommari drew a sword and held it pointed at Byakuya. "Now then, shall we continue, Kuchiki Byakuya?"

Byakuya held up the prybar and dodged Zommari's first attack, crouching down and moving away from him, but Byakuya's wound slowed him down. Zommari kicked out as Byakuya dodged the sword, impacting with his stomach.

Byakuya let out a grunt and rolled away. He looked down and saw that his wound was bleeding again, but not enough to be overly concerned. He got up to his feet and readied himself for Zommari's next attack. Zommari was fast and aimed to slip past Byakuya's guard, but he was able to keep up, if barely. Byakuya blocked a strike to his neck, and using both hands on the prybar, he was able to force Zommari back. The sound of the sword scraping against the prybar was unpleasant, not at all like it would have sounded if Byakuya had had his tanto.

Zommari took a step back, and Byakuya advanced on him. He swept the prybar back. With a fluid movement, Byakuya brought the prybar down on Zommari's shoulder, trying to move his hips with the blow as much as he could to add more force. Zommari did not pull away fast enough, and the blow connected with his collarbone, breaking it.

Byakuya scrambled backwards as Zommari started trashing his sword around wildly. He was glad that he was able to inflict that much damage with a single blow, but he also knew that it was only a matter of time before Zommari started using witchcraft and Byakuya nothing to counter that. He knew from experience that his shiki would have been sufficient enough, and that Zommari would not hesitate to exploit his disadvantage.

Zommari took his attention away from his opponent and assessed the damage done to his shoulder. Taking the short reprieve to catch his breath, Byakuya wondered if he could continue. The dizziness he had felt earlier was back.

"A commendable effort, given your condition," Zommari said. "Such a blow would hardly deter me or render me unable to fight. You shall have to do better, Kuchiki Byakuya."

Byakuya felt no need to retort. It was true; he did need to do better. However, what Zommari did not realise was that he had now gone after his pride. There was little Byakuya would not do for the sake of his pride. Ukitake used to tell him that that was what made him a dangerous person. Pride was all he had, his pride as an onmyouji, his pride as a member of the Kuchiki family, and above all, his own pride.

Byakuya stood straight and adjusted his grip on the prybar. If he killed Zommari, the demons would have little reason to stay. The contract would dissolve. Keeping his composure, he watched Zommari carefully. The man started chanting in a language unknown to Byakuya. Zommari tapped the rings on his thumb and forefinger together, and created a spark. Bringing his hand up to his mouth, Zommari tapped the rings again and exhaled strongly. Fire spilled out from his hand and made for Byakuya.

Byakuya tried to dodge it, but the flame followed him like a shadow no matter which way he turned or how fast he rolled. Tired from all the running he had already done, Byakuya slowed down and a fork of the flames washed over his left arm, burning him.

Without anywhere left to run from the flames, Byakuya fell into the wall, trying to keep himself upright. The flames cornered him, curling around him like a serpent that had cornered its prey. Byakuya would not be surprised if Zommari had summoned an Elemental. Elementals were dangerous spirits that lived in nature, but were in essence the embodiment of whatever element they had fused with. Byakuya had the ability to summon up a water Elemental, a mizuchi, but that required fuda paper and neju beads.

Byakuya shielded his face from the flames as they got closer, but the flames suddenly receded. He looked up to see Zommari approaching. The man was directly in front of Byakuya, with the flames curling lazily about them.

"I am disappointed in you, Kuchiki Byakuya," Zommari said. "I had to go to great efforts to learn you name during our first encounter, and now years later, we meet again. You have grown weaker. Your arrogance has finally worn you down and defeated you."

"You talk as if you have already won," Byakuya said. "You are still the arrogant one, not I."

Zommari frowned. "You are still blinded. I will show you the truth soon enough."

Holding his sword up to deliver the finishing blow, Zommari looked his opponent in the eyes, but neglected to notice the oni that Byakuya had encounter earlier stalk towards the witch doctor.

"Give me that mirror back, you bastard!" the oni shouted.

Zommari turned his attention towards the bleeding creature. Byakuya took it as an opportunity and moved quickly to shove the prybar and far and hard through Zommari's body as he could. The man's body jerked with the force. The oni grabbed onto Zommari's shoulder and dug its nails in, tearing at muscle and flesh.

Byakuya saw something slip from Zommari's clothes. The oni snatched it up before he could get a proper look at it and then glared at Byakuya.

A thrumming sound vibrated through the air. Byakuya noticed that it was coming from Zommari. He was still alive and chanted quietly as the thrumming got louder. Byakuya tried to stand but his legs gave out halfway, and sent him crashing into the oni, who had started to scramble away.

The thrumming continued, but Byakuya was too tired to care anymore. His vision dimmed and he lost consciousness.

**O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O**

The first thing he noticed was the smell of moss, water and rotting foliage. It was the smell of a forest. Byakuya tried to wake faster, but his body would not keep up with his mind. He registered the sounds of a waterfall or river that was nearby.

_A river?_ he questioned. Last he checked he had been in the middle of the city, unless he had landed up in a park somewhere nearby.

The more Byakuya woke, the more he remembered. He remembered meeting up with Ukitake at the shrine gates and then setting off to the construction site. He remembered the encounter with the demons and getting wounded and fighting Zommari.

_That's right,_he told himself._I fell into the oni when we had tried to get away from Zommari's spell._

Byakuya opened his eyes in a series of flutters. It took a while for the sleep to leave his eyes. He could not see much. There was a green shrub in front of him and fallen leaves, but nothing else. He moved his head and brought his right hand under his body to lift himself up. With great effort, he brought his knees up under him as well.

Byakuya stayed in the position for a moment, catching his breath. The wound on the side of his abdomen had worsened and the burns on his left arm rendered the limb useless. He took a deep breath and sat up.

Large trees loomed over Byakuya, and moss-covered rocks dotted the sloping terrain. He looked over his shoulder and saw that a river was indeed not far away. Byakuya decided that he was most definitely in a forest, but it was not one that would be found in the middle of Tokyo. It was an old, sentient forest that made the air around him hum with power. He concluded that he had been unconscious for a long time, because the first light of dawn was starting to lighten the sky.

Byakuya replayed the last few moments after he had stabbed Zommari in his head. All he did was fall into the oni.

"I must have impacted with him as he tried to cross over to the spirit world," he mused aloud. "Now, I'm stuck here."

Byakuya was infuriated. If he could not locate a youkai or mononoke to help him cross over to the world of the living once more, he would perish. Few dwellers in the spirit realm would associate with an onmyouji, let alone assist one. He knew that by eating food from the spirit world prolonged his stay, but he had no idea what doing so would entail once he left.

"What is edible here could end up killing me on my return home."

Byakuya sighed out his frustrations and tried to stand on his feet. Once he was sure he would not fall over, he made for the river. Byakuya wanted to clean his wounds as best he could in order to prevent infection. For all he knew, the wounds could already be infected from lying on cold moss for a few hours.

He stopped at the pebbled river bank. He removed the tool belt and discarded it. It was useless to him now. Byakuya waded into the water until it reached his chest. The burns on his arm throbbed, as did the puncture wound, but he endured it. After a few minutes, he went back to the shore and drank his fill of water.

Byakuya sat there and tried to decide his next course of action. He had nothing to store water in, so his best option was to stay close to the river. He wondered if he would encounter an mononoke or youkai that way. Towns and villages were usually near rivers, but Byakuya did not know if youkai even had a civilisation that sophisticated.

What other option did he have? Hinamori would only stay by Rukia until she had to go to school, but what then? What would become of Rukia? Byakuya started walking parallel to the river. He had to find a way back to Rukia.

By the time Byakuya stopped for a rest, the sun was high in the sky. It was noon. He had yet to encounter any other living being. He often wondered where that oni had disappeared.

_It most likely left me for dead_, he thought.

A snarl sounded to his right. Byakuya stopped and looked towards the cluster of large rocks and saw that on top of them stood a large white nue. It was easily larger than a Bengal tiger. It stood there and stared at him with sharp yellow eyes.

Byakuya froze. He was completely defenceless if it decided to attack him. He would not fool himself into thinking that he could outrun it. A nue, although large in build, was agile and quick. Byakuya, however, was human and injured. There was no question in his mind as to what would happen if it did lunge at him.

An inhuman roar echoed through the forest. Byakuya thought that it had come from the nue, but he saw that it had gone frigid, and looked out to the forest, over his head. He could hear the something was approaching them, but he had no idea as to what it was. Byakuya felt his blood run cold as a creature landed behind him. The creature breathed heavily, its warm breath ghosted over Byakuya's back.

Byakuya noticed that the white nue was snarling, but had backed away somewhat. Slowly, he turned his head to look over his shoulder. At first all he saw was an expanse of red fur that was patterned with black stripes. He looked up at the creature's face. It had the face of a monkey with red-brown eyes. It was another nue, but this one was much larger. It was closer in size to a horse than a tiger.

The creature stared down at Byakuya. It did nothing other than look until the white nue snarled again. It raised its head towards the other creature and let out a low growl, and made a fist with its hand and slammed it down to the ground. Byakuya knew who was in charge between the two of them.

The red nue circled around Byakuya a few times before it came closer and sniffed at him. Byakuya stood still, not wanting to do anything to cause alarm that would result in his death. He watched the nue, mindful of its snake headed tail that moved around him as well.

"Who are you human?" the red nue asked.

Byakuya stopped himself from showing any visible signs of fear. Its voice was deep and powerful, commanding.

"My name is Kuchiki Byakuya," he answered.

He knew that by giving his name, he was also signing his own death certificate. Onmyouji of the Kuchiki clan were hated by mononoke and youkai. The nue would kill for just being a part of the clan, never mind being the clan leader.

"You are the kannushi who sat beneath the sakura tree," it said.

Before Byakuya could ask how it knew he was a kannushi as well, but the nue's snake tail wrapped around his shoulders and lifted him off of the ground. It was not tight enough to hurt him, and it seemed that the tail wrapped around the area where it would cause him the least pain. Byakuya could not help the sharp intake of breath as he was lowered onto the nue's back.

The fur was softer than he thought it would be. From his new position, Byakuya could make out the stripes on the nue's fur better. They were sharp and angular and seemed to form a constant pattern, unlike the random patterns one saw on a tiger.

"Hold on tight," the nue said.

Before Byakuya could process what it had said, the nue had started to run, climbing and jumping over the rocks as the forest gave way to a mountain. Byakuya grabbed a fitful of its fur, and flattened his body more so that his body would not restrict the nue's movement as much.

Byakuya had no idea where the nue was taking him, but he hoped it was not to his death.

**And that's the second chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. I must admit that I was a bit skittish about writing the fight scene, but I think it turned out quite well. I reread the manga, and decided that I needed to add Zommari in somewhere, but he's not down for the count just yet.**

**I know that the atmosphere in this chapter is completely different to the one I created in the previous chapters, but it was necessary. So, I ended with a cliff hanger, but you'll find out Byakuya's fate soon.**

**As usual, reviews and constructive criticism are much appreciated. Really, they make my day when I'm on tea and I see a review.**

**See you all soon.**


	4. Honoured Guest

**Title: The Baboon King and the Cherry Blossom**

**Rating: M**

**Summary: Byakuya is quite content with his life as a resident priest at the shrine. With Gin, a kitsune, as a friend, times are never dull. With the arrival of a mysterious cloaked figure at the dead of night, things are about to get more interesting for Byakuya. **

**A/N: I'd like to say a big thank you to the reviewers of the last chapter, Eva Galana, PaulaGay, fallowell and Sachiko Heiwajima! Thank you to everyone else that takes the time to read this story, and to those who have faved and follow it as well. This chapter was actually quite challenge for no particular reason and was produced by consuming copious amounts of tea and pocky while watching incense smoke float around in my room. **

**This is just a side note, but after I did some research for this chapter, I realised that I made an error in the previous chapters. I mentioned youkai and ayakashi separately, but ayakashi is a collective term for youkai. I still want to distinguish between the spirits and youkai, so I went back and replaced ayakashi with mononoke, the collective term for spirits. **

**Chapter 03: Honoured Guest**

Byakuya moaned as he regained consciousness. He could not remember when he had fallen asleep, or how long he had been asleep, but from the way his body ached he could guess that it has been a long time.

Byakuya opened his eyes and looked up to an unfamiliar wood panelled ceiling. He closed his eyes again and just lay there. The dull ache in his left arm reminded him of his current situation. Byakuya could with all honesty admit that he was surprised he was still live and even more at the evidence that his wounds had been treated. One did not often do that for an enemy.

He lifted his arm and looked at his bandaged arm. The bandages looked fresh and there was an underlying smell of something herbal, probably a balm that had been put on the burns. He had obviously been treated by a healer or herbalist. It was hard for him to comprehend that a youkai would do all this.

Byakuya slowly sat up and looked around. The only thing he could say for certain was that he was not in a prison cell underground. The room was large, easily larger than both of Byakuya's and Rukia's bedrooms combined. The room did however red vapour-like energy floating around it if he concentrated on his Sight. The room was styled in a traditional way with the floor covered with tatami mats, and the walls consisted of painted wooden walls as well as fusuma and shoji. The bed he was on alone was bigger than a king-sized mattress. The bed was not a western styled one, but simply a bed that was on a short bed platform with a thin but firm mattress. As he lost interest in the bed, Byakuya looked at the contents of the room. A low desk by a large chadana cabinet was scattered with scrolls and sheaves of paper to. Another desk on the opposite side of the room was adorned with glass balls and had trays of paints, ropes and brushes arranged around the desk. Various kazaridana shelves were set about the room, of which some held scrolls while others had okimono or strange trinkets. The room was definitely one that was lived in.

Byakuya knew that this wasn't a servant's room, so he was left wondering who the room belonged to. The nue that had rescued him might have been working on behalf of some other, more powerful youkai, a youkai that at least had a humanoid form or had the ability to shape shift. The fact that he was left alone, unguarded, in a large room belonging to a very powerful youkai was something he could not understand. Byakuya had no idea when someone, or rather something, would come to check up him. They had probably overestimated his injuries and guessed that he would be immobile.

Byakuya decided the he needed to get up and stretch his muscles before he started getting bed sores. He stood up from the bed and noticed the green yukata he was dressed in. It had been tailored to someone who had a much bigger body build than his own from how long the sleeves were and how loose it was on his body.

Byakuya wondered over to the desk containing the scrolls and papers. He had no idea where he was, or who was playing the part of his gracious host, so he hoped that looking over the documents would give him some idea. He went and sat down behind the desk on the zabutou and picked up the document closest to him.

"'Hihi-ou, I, Hisagi Shuuhei-fukutaichou, on behalf of Muguruma Kensei-taichou of the Karasu Tengu Security Division, formally request a personnel transfer from your available warriors or madoushi. It would be preferable that the transferee be experienced in combat and have no issues with authority figures,'" Byakuya read aloud.

"'If at all possible, it would be greatly appreciated if you are able to send more than one transferee as the Karasu Tengu Security Division is currently shorthanded due to recent events in the west. It has been noted that you have acted favourably towards us in the past, and it is with that in mind that I implore you to grant this request.'"

Byakuya frowned at the letter once he finished reading it. He never knew that ayakashi could be civilised or organised. Akayashi and mononoke had always been barbaric creatures that crossed over into the human world to eat or terrorise humans. His grandfather had always described them as evil beings, and their counter parts, the onmyouji, as pure beings. The fact that he was still alive was enough to make him pause and start to doubt his grandfather's teachings. _Then again, _Byakuya thought, _they might just be keeping me alive long enough to use me for some sinister purpose. _

One particular part of that letter was strange to him. The person addressed in the letter was called Hihi-ou, the Baboon King. Byakuya had never heard of such a figure among the youkai, but then again, he did not think they were capable of writing just a few minutes prior. The thought that a single youkai could control as much power as the bygone shoguns was a terrifying one. Byakuya thought about all the youkai and mononoke he had ever encountered. They had always either been a single being or in groups no larger than four.

_If this Hihi-ou wanted to invade the human world with an organised militia, there would be little the remaining onmyouji could do to stop them, _Byakuya thought. _Perhaps my encounter with the demons had been something similar, those few demons could have acted a simple scouting party. If that was true, then what role does Zommari have to play?_

Byakuya pushed those thoughts from his mind and looked at some of the other documents on the table. A list lay near where he had picked up the letter. He put the letter down and read the list. It was a list of names that were divided into various categories. Many of the names were highlighted with red ink but a few were highlighted in blue. One name highlighted in blue caught his attention: _Town Guard, Arisawa Tatsuki. _Another name stood out as well, but it was highlighted in red: _Advanced Guard, Tristan Jackie_. Byakuya frowned and read the small footnote underneath the name: _She has too many problems with authority figures. _

It was curious. Byakuya never thought he would see a western name in the spirit realm, but then again, anything seemed possible at that point. He left the list and moved on to the scrolls, but he could not see anything that would be useful to him. Most of the documents contained trivial information such as storehouse inventories and guard rotation schedules.

Byakuya put everything back the way he had found it. It would be unbecoming if they found out he had been spying through what seemed like important official documents. He stood up and opened the top sliding door in the chadana cabinet but found nothing but tightly sealed scrolls. Byakuya slid the door closed again and then regarded the cabinet. He doubted he would find anything useful.

Byakuya turned away from the chadana and the desk and walked aimlessly across the room. He looked at the second desk from a distance. He was not curious enough to walk over there. He ran his fingers through his hair as he looked about the room. The shoji screens were to his left and a pair of fusuma was partially left open in front of him. He had no idea what was beyond either, and it would be foolish of him to just stumble abound the place without knowing its layout.

Byakuya returned to the bed and pulled the sheets right and sat down. He crossed his legs and rested the palms of his hands on his knees. He breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly. Byakuya slowly started his meditation. It would give him time to clear his mind and relax his body while he waited.

**O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O**

Byakuya opened his eyes and found himself sitting beneath a tree beside a pool wearing a brown kimono. He had no idea where he was, but it a very serene garden. Against his better judgement, he relaxed his back against the tree trunk. He felt as if he had nothing to worry over, that everything was right with the world.

A biwa was being played somewhere nearby, it was a song that Byakuya knew. _There it is,_ he thought. A voice started to sing in between the chords played on the biwa. The song and biwa created soothing sensation, and out of habit, he picked up the mistakes as a chord was missed or when the voice wavered in pitch.

Byakuya watched as a black and white kumonryu koi fish floated through the air and went past him. The sunlight that reflected off of its scales was a beautiful sight. Byakuya watched as it wandered about and flew over the surface of the pond. He watched as more koi joined the first, forming a circular flowing school over the calm surface of the pond.

Byakuya reached for the tabakko bon beside him and filled his kiseru pipe with tabaco from the small drawer. He inhaled the smoke and leisurely exhaled it through his mouth, watching the smoke curl lazily in the air. With the long stem of the kiresu pipe supported by his index finger and held between his thumb and middle finger, Byakuya he propped his arm up on his bent up knee. A rustle sounded in the tree branches above him.

"What are you doing up there, little nekomata?" he asked.

A black kitten regarded him form the low tree branches with its yellow eyes.

Byakuya took another drag from the pipe before he looked up. He stared at the kitten as it its eyes followed the curls of smoke. He emptied the ash into the ash tray of the tabakko bon and put down his pipe before he stood up. The kitten meowed at Byakuya before it rolled onto its back and reached out with one of its paws. Sighing out in mock frustration, he put a finger on the soft paw pad.

"You are not allowed here," Byakuya said to the kitten. "How do you keep sneaking in here?"

The kitten playfully batted at Byakuya's finger with its other paw and purred as he played back, gently tapping its nose. The kitten stood on all fours and jumped from the branch and onto his shoulders. Byakuya sniffed at its two tails brushed over his face. He knew that nothing but mitama were allowed here, and it was his job to ensure that nothing breached the walls, but it was just one little nekomata kitten.

Byakuya removed the kitten from his shoulders by the scruff of its neck and held its small body in both hands. The kitten just suddenly appeared one night a few weeks prior and had taken a liking to him. The kitten had come and gone as it pleased after that, but while it was in the garden, it spent most of its time with him. Byakuya did not even know which gender the kitten belonged to. He had just referred to it as 'you' or 'little nekomata'.

"Pardon the intrusion," he said.

Byakuya turned the kitten around and lifted its tails. It was female.

"Well, from your size and inability to speak, I would say you're less than a decade old," Byakuya told the kitten. "You probably do not possess a name then."

The kitten meowed and twitched its black whiskers. Others would frown on him for associating with what was considered a lesser, wild, and dirty being. To Byakuya it was just a little black nekomata that found him one night.

"I will call you Yoruichi from now on," Byakuya proclaimed as he tapped the kitten's nose again.

**O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O**

Byakuya gasped as he woke up from his meditation. It had happened before that when he was in a deep meditation, he would experience the inner most part of his mind or feel his soul wonder from its earthly body, but never before had something like that happened.

"A job protecting the mitama?" he whispered.

Mitama, or honourable souls, was another name for the spirits of the powerful, influential or highly respected souls of the deceased and kami. Floating koi fish did not exist, and Byakuya had never seen that garden before. He had also adopted a nekomata, something that rather disturbed him. It was not a vision because he himself had been in it, nor was it a dream. He had no idea what to think of it, but he knew he could not flat out ignore it either. He would have to consult with Ukitake once he found a way back to the human world.

Byakuya relaxed his posture and moved his shoulders, relaxing the stiff muscle. He had no way of keeping time while he was stuck in the room. He looked around. Everything seemed the same as what it was before he had meditated. No-one had come to check up on him. He just wanted answers and he wanted to go home. As he thought of home, Byakuya felt a chill run through his veins. He did not know if Ukitake had gotten out of the construction site alive. He had been so concerned with his own survival that he had taken it for granted that Ukitake was a more experienced onmyouji than he was.

The faint sound of footsteps reached Byakuya ears. His body worked itself up with a nervous tension. He was completely defenceless against anything that would enter the room. He sat and waited.

The seconds that passed left like an eternity as the footsteps grew louder.

A fusuma panel slid open and a small, dark-haired boy carrying a tray laden with jars and bowls entered. Byakuya frowned. He had been expecting a large, more youkai-like being, not a scrawny child. The boy seemed more focused on balancing his tray than anything else, not noticing that Byakuya was wake and sitting on the bed. Byakuya watched the boy carefully. If he looked at the boy's skin closely, he could see the glimmer of patches of scales that came from the light cast by the okiandon in the room. He kept his face blank as the boy started to turn his attention to the bed.

The boy froze and stared at Byakuya. A moment passed where nothing happened, but then the boy jumped back and gave out a yelp.

"Y-you're awake," the boy said with a tremble in his voice.

"Clearly."

"I… see. W-well, that's good!" the boy tried to sound calm, but the tray in his hands gave away his nervousness as it shook. "May I change your bandages, kannushi-san?"

Byakuya inclined his head, but kept his eyes on the boy's every movement. "What are you?"

"What am I?" the boy asked back. "I'm Yamada Hanatarou, a member of the Yamada kappa clan."

Byakuya pondered over what the boy had said. It made sense that if there was something equivalent to a shogun in the spirit realm, then the possibility of a social hierarchy would not be too farfetched. He inspected the tray as Hanatarou put it down on the bed. As the boy freed his hands from underneath the tray, Byakuya saw the almost translucent green webbing that ran between Hanatarou's fingers. He got a closer look at that green scales that appeared on his body in patches. Byakuya had seen a kappa before, and it definitely did not look like the one that stood in front of him now.

_Is it because we're in the spirit realm?_

"Uh, kannushi-san, could you please remove the top of the yukata?" Hanatarou asked timidly.

Byakuya frowned at the kappa.

"Why do you call me kannushi-san?" he asked.

Hanatarou was quick to bow and apologise. "I didn't mean to offend you, but no-one knew your name, and Hihi-ou referred to you as kannushi, so I just went with that."

"I see," Byakuya said softly. He had given his name to the nue when it had asked him.

_Perhaps this HIhi-ou does not want to cause undue panic over having an onmyouji of the Kuchiki clan here,_ Byakuya speculated.

Once he had slipped off the top part of his yukata, Byakuya sat still as Hanatarou removed the bandage from his arm and reapplied a balm that soothed the dull ache of the burns. He looked down at his arm and saw that the burns were not as bad as what he thought it would be. It would scar, but it looked like it would fade if he applied the right ointments in the future.

"I used some healing magic and indigenous plants on you abdominal wound, but it didn't want to use anymore because no-one had ever used them on a human before, so we don't know what side effects there will be," Hanatarou explained.

"That is understandable," Byakuya said offhandedly.

Hanatarou applied more balm to the burns and profusely apologised when Byakuya flinched. Both of them were silent as Hanatarou wrapped fresh bandages over the burns. Byakuya watched as the kappa unwound the bandages over his abdomen and he was surprised to see a strange looking, red flesh-like leaf was stuck to his skin. Hanatarou's fingers were cold where the brushed against his skin, but when the kappa removed the thick piece of the leaf, he left nothing.

"You'll probably still feel numb," Hanatarou said, "but your wound has healed nicely, so I won't need to cut up more of the Blood Tipped succulent. The juice stored in its fleshy insides is what causes the numbing effect."

Byakuya was less interested in the explanation and more concerned with how his wound had healed. He got kicked in the stomach, so the wound much have torn open quite badly. All that remained was a pink scar about five centimetres long and if he had to guess, it was as wide as his thumbnail. It could have been worse.

"There's no need to put on a new bandage, so you may put the yukata back on, kannushi-san," Hanatarou said with a nervous smile. "I'll go find someone to inform Hihi-ou that you're awake."

Hantarou started putting all the old bandages and the jar of balm back on the tray when loud, hurried footsteps approached, accompanied by equally loud voices.

"I agree with Zabimaru," a woman's voice sounded. "It was a stupid thing to do!"

"I didn't ask for your opinion," a man replied. "It happened, so get over it."

"That still doesn't change the fact that you acted recklessly and endangered this entire town by bring an onmyouji into the castle."

Byakuya saw how Hanatarou's body stiffened. The boy scrambled away from the bed, upsetting his balance and let the tray fall from his hands. He regarded the kappa with a look of indifference. There was nothing he could do to harm him, but Hanatarou didn't know that.

The fusuma was pushed open with excessive force and a large figure cloaked in white fur with a large baboon skull resting on his shoulder appeared. Byakuya looked at the newcomer. The man was tall with a long, strong face. The contrast between the white fur and his red hair was a vivid one. Byakuya could see the beginnings of black markings on the man's eyebrows, but it was covered by a dark tenugui wrapped around his forehead. He looked straight at Byakuya.

"Ah, Hihi-ou," Hanatarou started, his face pale. "You had me treat an onmyouji?"

"You're dismissed, Hanatarou," the man known as Hihi-ou said.

Hanatarou quickly picked up the scattered and broken remains of his tray and left. Byakuya clenched his fists in his lap slightly. He had no idea what to expect, but he was distracted when another figure entered the room. A tall, dark-skinned woman with short hair entered, and Byakuya was stunned by her appearance. A long, scaled and spiked tail swept behind her. Clothed entirely in black, she wore a length of cloth wrapped about her chest and a long skirt that was slit on both sides. He could see that her legs were reptilian, curving backwards, with clawed feet like that of a desert lizard. Only the front and outer sides of her legs were covered in black scales, while the rest was the same dark skin as the rest of her body. The only colour in her attire was from the geometric patterned bead choker around her neck.

"Now the onmyouji's awake," she said. "I told you to tell that healer to drug him."

"Leave, Jackie."

"Like hell!" Jackie refuted. "You're just making one stupid decision after the other. I'm not here as decoration, I have a job to do. I'm your bodyguard, so tell what part of this situation is safe enough for me to leave your fool side?"

Byakuya remembered reading that name on the list, Tristan Jackie. She did seem to have problems with authority, but she also had a point.

"I think I can handle a single defenceless onmyouji," Hihi-ou said as he walked across the room and into another. "You're dismissed for the night."

"Che." Jackie snarled and then glared at Byakuya before she left.

Byakuya sat on the bed and looked to where Hihi-ou had disappeared to. He could see the end of white fur cloak on the floor, but if he craned his neck to see in further, all he could see were large chadansu cabinets. It then occurred to him. He was most likely in Hihi-ou's private chambers. Dread sank like a rock in his stomach. Quietly, he composed himself to look indifferent, staring at the bed sheets in front of him and waited for the other to appear again.

Byakuya looked up when he heard a fusuma close. He looked at the youkai that stood on the other side of the engulfing fur cloak and the dark tenugui had been removed and had been replaced by a dark blue yukata. The markings that start on the youkai's eyebrows and went up his forehead were bold and tribal-like, and he could see that there were more of them on the youkai's body. Byakuya focused on his face tried to memorise it: narrow eyes with redish brown irises, a long, strong jaw and a straight nose with a narrow mouth.

"Abarai Renji," Hihi-ou said.

Byakuya raised an eyebrow. That was the name Urahara had given to the youkai that had entered Rukia's room. He suddenly doubted Urahara's statement on the youkai's harmless intentions. He could see that Renji was waiting for him to return the courtesy and offer his name. He could not afford to offend his host.

"Kuchiki Byakuya," he said coolly.

Renji smiled and slid one hand inside his yukata. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Byakuya said nothing. He was about to look to the side, but something had caught his eye. An inro holder was kept at Renji's side by what he assumed was an ivory netsuke over the obi, but it was too far away from him to guess what the netsuke looked like.

Renji walked towards the bed. Byakuya stayed seated in the middle of the bed. He watched the youkai bent down and sat at the end of the bed and faced him. The action drew Byakuya attention to Renji's feet. They were shaped like a monkey's, but had no hair on the tops of his feet. From the closer proximity, Byakuya could some of the youkai's tattoos that ran over his chest and along his neck. He noticed a long, slender snake tail wrapped itself about the youkai's middle.

"You're the nue from before," Byakuya said. "You're the large red nue that scared off the white one."

"Yeah," Renji said, rubbing the top of his head, "that was me."

"Why would you save me? You have nothing to gain from doing so. In fact, it would have been easier for you to have let that other nue kill me."

Renji chuckled. "You're quite the optimist, aren't you?"

Byakuya said nothing. It wasn't a question that needed to be graced with an answer. He did not like the informal manner the youkai used to address him. He knew that the youkai was probably trying to be friendly, but he wouldn't trust him as far as he could throw him.

"Well, I suppose the main reason was because it would've been very troublesome for me if you died on my territory. The last thing I need right now is for Gin to go on a war path with me. I have enough problems without him trying to kill me."

Byakuya frowned. "You know Gin?"

"Unfortunately," Renji replied. "We used to have a mutual friend, but he mainly acts as an informant when he has anything interesting to share – for the right price of course. I can't go near your shrine without his consent though."

"So, just by getting permission from Gin, any manner of ayakashi or mononoke can practically come and go from the shrine grounds as they please?" When Renji gave a nod, Byakuya make a note to throttle Gin later. "It was foolish of you to give Rukia that candy," Byakuya criticized. "She is too young to be exposed to anything from the spirit realm, so I expect you to keep your distance from her in the future."

Byakuya cared less about insulting his captor and more about projecting Rukia from dangerous situations. He was not just saying those things to get the youkai to stay away from. Rukia's body had yet to develop a natural immunity to spirit energies, so coming into contact with a youkai as powerful as Renji could endanger her health.

Renji blinked and laughed. "The kid is not going to be happy when she hears that. Did you know she got sad when I told her that you'd probably not like all too much?"

"As a matter of fact, my opinion of you is not very high," Byakuya started, "however, I will acknowledge that you did save my life and that I am indebted to you."

Although he hated to say that out loud, Byakuya did know that it was a serious matter, and even though it meant indebting himself to a youkai, he would do it. Being indebted could be harmful to his family's reputation and his pride in the long run, so he planned on returning the favour as soon as possible.

Renji sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Not this again."

"Excuse me?"

"It's nothing," Renji said. "Look, there's no need for you to be indebted to me. We can call it even because I trespassed on your shrine and in your home. Deal?"

Byakuya could not believe his arrogance. Being indebted to someone for saving your life was not equivalent to trespassing on private property. Perhaps he had misjudged how civilised that ayakashi were.

"Most certainly not," Byakuya refused. "The trespassing is another matter entire, one that will be dealt with as soon as I return to the human world."

"Stubborn," Renji mumbled. "You can't go back home just yet though. Your body needs time to heal and letting you cross over now would have negative effects for you physically."

"Then are you going to keep me captive until I am well enough?" Byakuya asked.

"Nah, though Jackie and Zabimaru would like it if I did." Renji looked at Byakuya and gave a small, sad smile. "While you're here, you're my honoured guest."

**I'm glad that's done, but I hope you all enjoyed it. I had three different versions of this chapter, and all of them were wholly different. I know it's the norm to write dream sequences in italics, but I struggle to read large texts in italics, so I just made sure to indicate a page break. Renji and Byakuya finally met! I think that was the main reason why I had three different versions. I couldn't decide on how they should meet. **

**I know not many people like the Fullbring characters, but I really like Jackie. I guess I just like her cynical view on everything, that and she strongly reminds me of a colleague of mine. I wonder if anyone can guess what she is? **

**In the next chapter, I'll be fleshing out the spirit realm a bit more and probably let Byakuya stumble around in it a bit. **

**As usual, reviews and constructive criticism are much appreciated. I like to know that you guys are enjoying the story as much I enjoy writing it. **

**See you all soon!**


	5. Out and About

**Title: The Baboon King and the Cherry Blossom**

**Rating: M**

**Summary: Byakuya is quite content with his life as a resident priest at the shrine. With Gin, a kitsune, as a friend, times are never dull. With the arrival of a mysterious cloaked figure at the dead of night, things are about to get more interesting for Byakuya. **

**A/N: I'd like to thank those who reviewed the last chapter: Sachiko Heiwajima, PaulaGay, Ruon Jian, Eva Galana, sardonicis imperfect and Guest. **

**Guest: I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and my writing style. I try to update as frequently as I can, but I am preparing to travel to Thailand so updates will be less frequent. I'll try my best to write when I can.**

**Enjoy the chapter! **

**Chapter 04: Out and About**

Two days had passed since Byakuya had woken up in Renji's room. He had since then been checked on regularly by Jackie and Hanatarou came in daily to treat the burns. He was fed three meals a day. He could use Renji's bathing chamber as he pleased. In the end, he could not dispute that he was well looked after, but he frequently found himself bored.

Byakuya had a few interactions with Renji when he had come in and worked on official documents and for a change of clothes, but they only spoke as if in passing. He actually wanted to sit down and talk to the youkai, as uncouth and loud as he, Byakuya wanted to learn more about the spirit realm. Who better was there to ask then the one that was in control of the territory? Almost everything Byakuya knew about youkai and mononoke was wrong – almost everything. Everything he knew on how to kill or banish them was correct. It was their lifestyle and the spirit realm that was a mystery. They had a culture capable of writing, speech, and from what little he had seen of, he guessed that he was in Renji's castle, so they had the ability to construct large, complex buildings as well. He was curious to see what similarities and differences there were between them and humans.

He wondered if his grandfather knew the truth about the youkai. He remembered his grandfather told him that centuries ago, onmyouji could enter the spirit realm by detaching their souls from their earthly bodies during meditation. Sadly, those techniques could not be found in any of the documents. Perhaps he could try asking Ukitake if he knew anything. It was doubtful, but it was a start.

Byakuya wondered where Renji slept at night. The youkai would appear for a few moments after dinner to yet a sleeping yukata and then disappeared again. He almost felt guilty for occupying Renji's room, but then again, it would have been easy to have him relocated to another room.

Byakuya stood up from the zabutou and walked to the middle of the room where he had the most floor space. Normally, he would have been content to pass his time meditating, but after what happened the last time he meditated, he was reluctant to do it again. He needed to move around. After doing a quick calculation in his head, he guessed that it was a Tuesday. He would have gone to the dojo today. Byakuya was a practitioner of Goju-ryu karate and Okinawan kobudou.

Byakuya's body was restless from the lack of activity and his mind agitated from stress and his environment. He needed to calm himself mentally and physically. In order to achieve that calm, without meditation, he would go through the katas from dai ichi gekisai to sparenpai. He knew he was not wearing the proper attire, but he put that issue aside for now. He looked at the fusuma that separated the room from the dressing room. He needed more space. Quietly, he slid the panels open and created more room. Once that was done, he walked to the centre of the space.

Byakuya breathed in and out. He started with the basic warm-up exercises, loosening his joints and the muscles in back, neck, arms, hands, hips, legs and feet. He breathed in deeply again and then put his feet together in heisoku dachi, with his hands on the front of his thighs and bowed. He parted his feet until they were shoulder length apart and bent his knees. As he moved his right foot forward, Byakuya focused on nothing else but his movements.

After Byakuya had completed the first kata, he moved on to the second. As he went on, he found himself completely immersed in his movements. He did not think on his stances or how he moved his hips with every punch. It all muscle memory to him, natural processes for his body to make.

As Byakuya stepped backward and into the closing bow of suparenpai, he kept some tension in his shoulders and released once he straightened from his bow with a calm exhalation. He straightened the yukata and noticed that someone was watching him. He did not pause while he retied the obi around his waist.

_I made too much of a noise without realising_, he thought.

Byakuya looked to the side and saw Renji casually leaning against the fusuma, clad in his white fur cloak. He would have looked away in embarrassment if he had not caught sight of the cocky, lopsided grin. If he looked away, he could only imagine how that grin would grow. He would not give the youkai that satisfaction.

"I apologise if I made too much of a commotion," Byakuya said as he looked the other in eye.

Renji moved his head to the side and looked at Byakuya with a strange regard. It was a look that made him uncomfortable, but he was not going to let the youkai know that.

"It's alright," Renji said. "You must've been bored out of your mind by now, so I decided to check up on you. I'm familiar with the first few schools of karate, but I've never seen that before."

Byakuya was not all that surprised at that. What reason did youkai have to keep track of every change in the human world?

"It's a relatively new school of karate," Byakuya began, "it originated in Okinawa. It's called Goju-ryu."

"'Hard' and 'soft', eh? You didn't look too bad when you went through your kata. Maybe we could spare once we're done for the day."

"We?" Byakuya asked.

"Yes, we," Renji answered.

"What are 'we' going to do until the day is done then?"

Renji's grin grew. Byakuya watched as the youkai took something out from under his arm and walked closer. It was clothes. A plain brown kosode kimono and a green pair of hakama were folded neatly and presented to him in both the youkai hands. He was curious about that Renji had planned. Byakuya looked up at Renji. From their close proximity, he could see the youkai's full height and build. It was no wonder why all the yukata hung on him as they did. Renji was most likely almost a full head taller and much wider and muscular than Byakuya.

"I'll tell you after you get changed, besides, I'm sure you're tired of wearing my clothes," Renji joked.

Byakuya accepted the clothes and slid the fusuma that he had moved back to their original place and changed in the dressing room. He folded his yuktata and placed it on a kaidandansu before he left. He found Renji by the chadana cabinet by desk adorned with glass balls. His back was to Byakuya, so he could not see what the youkai was doing, but he could see that Renji was putting something in the small chest by his feet.

Byakuya was curious, but to ask what Renji was doing would be rude, so he stayed silent and watched. Once the youkai was done, he pulled an indigo dyed furoshiki cloth from his cloak and wrapped it over the chest and created a small, twisted handle form the ends.

"Now that you're done and this is all packed, we can go," Renji said, taking the cloth handle in hand and picking up the chest like it was made of nothing but air.

"You have still to disclose where we are going," Byakuya said. He was not going to follow the man blindly. He wanted to know if he was going to walk into something unpleasant.

"I have a few things to do in the town, so I thought you'd like to take a walk around," Renji said, "unless, you'd like to sit around here the whole day?"

Byakuya stayed silent. He watched as Renji took a hold of the baboon skull that rested on his should and moved it around to the back of his head and pulled it on. Byakuya had to admit that the skull combined with the engulfing fur cloak created an intimidating sight. Renji wore it every day and only took it off to change into a yukata. He could not help but wonder why the youkai did that.

"I shall accompany you," Byakuya said.

"That's good," Renji said over his shoulder. "There are some rules though."

"You did not think to say that before you asked if I should join you?"

"No, not really," Renji said as he gave a light-hearted chuckled that did not suit his outward appearance. "I actually forgot until a moment ago."

Byakuya felt like he was in the presence of a five year old. It was just like that with Rukia as well and it was cute when she did it, but Renji was an adult which made it annoying.

"It's mainly for your own safety. It's nothing complicated, I promise."

"Are you insulting my intelligence, Abarai-ou?" Byakuya asked.

"What? No, of course not," Renji said. "All I meant was that the rules are there to keep you safe, you know? We can't have someone trying to steal you away, or worse, kill you."

That statement in itself was not very enlightening in Byakuya's opinion.

"I can understand that a youkai would try to kill me," he started, "but I do not see the point in them trying to 'steal me away' as you put it."

Renji turned around to face Byakuya. The youkai used the thumb of his free hand to push up the baboon skull and look him in the eye directly. "You're joking right?"

"I never joke, besides, I truly do not understand."

"Right, well, uh, it's not that important, so let's move on to the rules. First, don't give your full name to anyone, for obvious reasons. Second, if anyone asks, you're just a kannushi, for obvious reasons as well. Third, stay by my side at all times. Fourth, but probably the most important if for some reason worst comes to worst, I want you to wear this at all times."

Renji put down the chest and slipped his hand into his cloak and pulled out a necklace of black glass beads that had three red jade magatama in the centre, with a bead in-between magatama. The youkai presented the necklace in both hands. Byakuya looked at the necklace. He could see that it was laced with Renji's energy; there was no way to mistake the red vapour-like aura that clung to it. It was being presented as a gift, and he did not want to be rude by inquiring about the need for the necklace.

Before Byakuya accepted the necklace, he looked up into Renji's face. The youkai had a strange look in his eyes, the same he had earlier, but this time it was directed at the necklace.

"Thank you, Abarai-ou" Byakuya said politely. "I shall try my best to follow the rules you have set out and not cause any undue trouble for you."

Renji slipped the skull back into place and laid his hand on the fusuma. "There's no need to be so polite. I know we've just met, but just relax a little."

Byakuya gave him a pointed look. He had yet to make the youkai understand that he did not want to be less formal, and neither did he want to relax. He was in the surrounded by youkai, that although have proven themselves to be cultured thus far did not change the fact that they were still his enemy. Byakuya knew he was experiencing doubts about his teachings, but that did not mean he would suddenly abandon them. Until youkai could prove themselves to be true allies, he would see them as enemies and try to keep them at arm's length.

"It is because we have just met that I am formal," Byakuya explained. "You are also of a station much higher than mine, so it would be rude to address you informally. The fact also remains that you are a youkai and I am an onmyouji and I am indebted to you."

Renji said nothing for a time. He stood there with his back to Byakuya and stared at the fusuma.

"Suit yourself," the youkai said as he opened the fusuma and stepped out of the room. "Follow me."

Byakuya slipped the necklace over his head and traced the curve of one of magatama as he followed Renji. He had noticed how the youkai's posture had stiffened before he left the room. His words had probably been too harsh. He could have phrased his words better to sound less offensive and impersonal. Ukitake constantly told him to work on his socialising skills, and he had tried, but it was difficult for him to communicate in a friendly, open manner with others.

Byakuya focused on Renji's back and ignored the stares he attracted from the youkai they passed. Their opinion mattered little to him, but it was annoying to be gaped at so openly.

_They're probably wondering what business a human has with their king_, Byakuya told himself.

Byakuya noticed that most of the youkai had bigger than average hands and monkey feet like Renji had. He knew that they could not have been nue as well because they lacked serpentine tails. He thought about the markings on the youkai's body and wondered if it was something that appeared on all nue or if it was just unique to Renji. He could ask about it later.

They entered a vast hall with a high ceiling that was supported by large red columns. Byakuya looked up and saw that large golden snakes were trapped in a descending spiral down the columns and stopped half way with their heads lifted and their fangs bared. He could not believe the craftsmanship that went into those statues to give them such life-like qualities.

"It took twenty years to complete this hall," Renji said casually. "If you behave while we're in town, I might be persuaded to give you a tour when we come back."

Byakuya did not answer. He looked at the snakes one last time before he followed Renji out. They went into what he assumed was the entrance hall. It was not as big or grand as the hall they had just come from, but it still had an ambiance of power. Byakuya saw that Jackie appeared to be waiting for them by a large set of gold imbedded doors. Before they reached her, she threw a cloth bundle at the human. Byakuya caught it easily and glanced at it.

"What did I tell you about handing things over to other people?" Renji asked.

"Being polite to your important guests and the general public is one thing, but don't expect me to show the same courtesy to the human," Jackie said. "I can't be as polite like you lot can. A human is still a human."

Byakuya ignored the rest of the conversation as Renji proceeded to reprimand her and opened the cloth wrapped bundle. A pair of new zori sandals lay in between the layers of cloth. He was rather grateful for them, because he dreaded the thought of walking around barefoot. He stepped down from the wooden floor and onto the tiled floor and slipped on the sandals. It was strange to wear straw sandals without tabi, and the sandals were a bit too big for him, but he could make do.

"Do they fit alright?" Renji asked as he stepped down.

"Not entirely, but they will work fine for the day, I think," Byakuya answered. He noticed that Jackie had disappeared. "Is Jackie not going to be escorting you?"

"No," the youkai said with a sigh. "She might be my bodyguard, but she doesn't need to follow me everywhere. It's safe enough for me to walk around town without her. She has a few other things to do today. That's a good thing, I suppose. Being around her when she's in a bad mood is like getting caught in a sudden down pour. She has her moments though, but I'd like to apologise on her behalf for her rude behaviour just now."

"She is not native to this part of the spirit realm, is she?"

"No, she's not," Renji said. "The spirit realm is as vast and varied as the human world. Where you are now is in the Japanese portion of the spirit realm. Jackie comes from the more western parts of the spirit realm, but I don't know exactly where."

Byakuya stood up and noticed that shoes had not been laid out for Renji.

"You are not going outside without shoes, are you?" Byakuya asked.

Renji grinned and lifted a foot up from under his cloak. Byakuya looked down. He did not know whether to call it a hand or foot. The foot was larger than the youkai's hands and had four fingers and a thumb-like appendage and the nails were long and pointed. It was a strange sight to see. Byakuya could not believe his eyes as the foot started to shift and turned into a human one.

"Neat trick, right?" Renji said. The foot changed back into a monkey-like one. "I can shape shift most of my body between my true form and a human-like one, but it's just easier to keep my feet as they are. I can get around faster that way. So, to answer your question; no, I don't wear shoes. I don't like confining my feet."

Byakuya did not know how to reply.

"Well, let's get going, kannushi-san" Renji said as he slipped his foot back under the fur cloak. "I don't have much time to waste. I'm on a strict schedule."

The doors groaned as they opened. Byakuya squinted as the light shone through the opening. He waited for his eyes to adjust and saw that Renji had already walked outside and was waiting for him. Byakuya took in a deep breath and stepped outside.

An immense courtyard lay before Byakuya. The guards positioned in the courtyard all bowed deeply, but some looked up and glared at Byakuya. He could not blame them. He decided to ignore them for the time being and followed Renji as the youkai made his way across the courtyard. It was troublesome to keep up with the youkai. His strides were much longer than Byakuya's, so he had to walk faster to just walk alongside Renji.

Branches of a nearby tree rustled and leaves fell down. A strange sound came from the tree. An unfamiliar form scurried down the tree and ran to Renji. Byakuya could not make out its shape, but it was obviously something friendly from the way the Renji stopped and looked down at it. The creature quickly climbed up Renji's body and scurried about on his shoulders. It stopped long enough to look at Byakuya, sniffing at his scent. The creature was as big as a house cat, with brown, spotted fur and an elongated body. It had monkey-like hands and feet, but its face was like a weasel's and had a long bushy tail.

Renji reached up and scratched the creature behind the ears. It made an odd sound that was somewhere between a purr and a squeak. It moved out from under the youkai's fingers and suddenly leapt over to Byakuya. Before he could even react, it was on his shoulders.

"Looks like Ryuunosuke likes you," Renji said.

Byakuya stood there, shoulders stiff, and glared at the youkai. He did not care if it had a name or not, he did not want the creature on his person, but he did not want to offend by throwing it off either. As it sniffed at Byakuya's hair, its whiskers tickled his ears, not that he would ever admit to that, and its tail curled around his neck.

"Would you please remove it," Byakuya requested.

Renji chuckled and grabbed the creature by the scruff of its neck and placed it on his own shoulders.

"He won't hurt you," the youkai said. "He's just a furi, a harmless creature that lives here in the spirit realm. He and other furi live here on the castle grounds."

Byakuya looked at the furi. It looked harmless enough. He was just glad Rukia was not here to see it, because if she had, she would have asked for one.

"I thought you were on a strict schedule?" Byakuya asked.

Renji gave a slight smile and walked on. They pass through three more gates before they were out of the castle grounds. Byakuya looked around curiously. They were in the middle of mountain, and very high up if he had to guess. It was a good day, the sun was shining and there was little wind. The forest on the mountain was green and thick and further down the mountain, in a valley between the peaks, Byakuya could see the town.

"That down there is Touno," Renji said. "It's the largest settlement in my territory. It used to be a small village, but that was a long time ago, even by youkai standards."

Byakuya nodded and looked down the path they would have to follow to get to the town. It would take some time to reach their destination.

"How long will it take us to reach Touno?" Byakuya asked.

"Well, if you follow the road, almost an hour if we walk," Renji said as he scratched Ryuunosuke's head again. "If you run through the forest and cut straight down to the valley, it would take you about ten minutes, depending on how fast you run."

Byakuya almost did not want to ask which path they would take. He had ran enough when the demons chased him, he did not want to through a forest. He looked to Renji and saw that the youkai was looking at him with a lopsided grin.

"Don't worry, I won't make you run all the way down there, but I don't have an hour to waste just to get there either," Renji said.

"Then how to you propose we get down there in the fastest, simplest manner, Abarai-ou?" Byakuya asked.

Renji's grin grew wider. The youkai took Byakuya's wrist and lead him into the forest beside them. Ryuunosuke took the opportunity to jump back onto Byakuya's shoulders. The furi quickly settled down and curled itself around Byakuya's neck and shoulders. He had to watch his step as he was pulled through the forest so he could not pull the creature off as Renji had done earlier.

Byakuya nearly tripped when Renji stopped suddenly. Before he could voice his displeasure, his vision was filled with the youkai's fur cloak. He reached out and caught it before landed on him. It was heavier than it looked.

"Hold that for me," Renji said cheekily.

Byakuya looked up and saw the large red nue standing in front of him once more. He noticed that the ches that the youkai had been carrying was tied about his waist. Renji's snake tail wrapped around him and lifted him up and onto the youkai's back. Byakuya barely had time to get a good handhold on the youkai's fur before he started running through the forest. The trees and plants were hard to focus on as the youkai ran at an incredible speed, but something caught his eye.

Byakuya looked to the right and saw that a wolf was running parallel to them. Its head turned towards him for a moment. He looked into its large golden eyes. When Byakuya blinked, the wolf disappeared into wisps of golden vapour. It had happened so quickly that he doubted if he had really seen the wolf to begin with. The wolf had an eerie resemblance to the ones that were painted in the scrolls in the Archives.

_Perhaps,_ Byakuya reasoned,_ I am just experiencing a hallucination. Hanatarou did warn that there might be side effects from being exposed to their healing techniques. _

Renji's speed started to decrease and Byakuya turned his attention to what was happening in front of him.

"We'll stop here for now," Renji said. "I just have to turn back and then we can enter the village."

Byakuya was lifted off of Renji's back and put down on the ground. He took a few steps back as the youkai started to change its form. It was a curious thing to see. Renji's body shifted into his humanoid one and the clothes he had been wearing materialised over his body while his fur receded back into his skin.

"If your clothes would appear again once you transformed back, why did you hand me your cloak?" Byakuya asked.

Renji stood up and held his hand out for his cloak. Byakuya handed it back and watched as the youkai wrapped it about himself with the skull resting on his shoulder.

"This is hihi fur," Renji said. "It doesn't have the capacity to dematerialise and materialise as I will it."

Byakuya knew that that was just an explanation to answer his question. He had noticed that Renji wore the cloak every day and as far as he knew, the youkai only removed it at night when he went to bed. He wanted to question it further, but something stopped him from doing so. Perhaps he could ask at a later date.

"You're going to be using your own two feet as we walk through the town," Renji said as he picked up the furoshiki wrapped chest. "Let's get going."

Byakuya frowned as Ryuunosuke started moving about on his shoulders and burying its face in his hair. It genuinely seemed harmless and content to just sit on his shoulders, so he decided to let it sit on his shoulders for the time being. Byakuya caught up with Renji and tried to stay beside him as they walked through the last bit of the forest.

Once they stepped out of the forest, Byakuya stopped and looked at the picturesque Edo styled town that lay before him. It almost seemed like he had walked back in time. He noticed that Renji was walking on without him and hurried along to catch up with the youkai.

Byakuya noticed that the streets were busy. Many of the youkai they passed stopped their tasks and bowed to Renji, who nodded in acknowledgement. The passed by house that soon gave way to shops and restaurants. They walked by all of them without stopping. Byakuya noticed that once the youkai completed their bow, they whispered amongst themselves and stared after him.

Renji took Byakuya through an alley and into what looked like a craftsman district of some kind. The signs above and the noren fabric dividers in front of the doors all had the same basic information. The shops were those belonging to koto, biwa, flute and drum craftsmen. A few faint notes of various instruments floated down to the street from the shop interiors. Byakuya was curious enough to want to enter a few of them. Rukia had expressed her interest in wanting to learn an instrument for the past few months, but he had been reluctant to invest that much into something that could only be a passing fancy for her.

"Do you play anything?" Renji asked.

"No," Byakuya replied, "I do not. I am merely curious."

Renji led Byakuya into another street. The street was lined with umbrellas, lanterns and sensu fans of various colours and sizes. Byakuya looked at the dozens of sensu fans on display as they walked by. He had never seen anything as masterful. Between the flaps of the shop's noren he saw a tall woman browsing through the fans. He only caught a glimpse of her profile before the noren obstructed his sight. He had not been able to make out the finer details of her face, but he was able to see the golden kanzashi she wore.

Byakuya flinched when Renji took a hold of his wrist and pulled him along.

"What are you doing?" Byakuya asked. "Unhand me."

"Sorry," Renji apologised, "but I'd rather not deal with that woman at the moment."

Byakuya wondered if he was referring to the woman that had been browsing through the sensu fans. When they turned into another street, he pulled his wrist out from the youkai's grasp. He stopped and glared at the back of Renji's head.

"That does not explain why you nearly dislocated my arm," Byakuya said.

Renji angled his body back towards Byakuya. "Look, I'm sorry I used too much force on you just now, but she would get very mad very quickly if she saw you walking around here, especially with me. I'd like to avoid a fight with her."

"If it is that big of an issue to have me walk around, then why did you let me out of your room in the first place?"

Renji sighed. "It's not a big issue, but she'll make one of it."

Byakuya watched as Renji slowly walked on. He turned his head over his shoulder as best he could with Ryuunosuke on him and looked back to the sensu shop. The wolf from earlier was casually walked up the street, its gaze fixed on Byakuya. He involuntarily locked his gaze with the wolf. It continued to walk towards him in a slow, determined manner. He watched as a youkai exited a shop and walked right through the wolf, seemingly unaware of its existence. The wolf once again disappeared into a cloud of golden vapour.

"Oi, kannushi-san," Renji called.

Byakuya took a deep breath and turned back to Renji and quietly followed the youkai. He barely noticed the shops they passed by as his thought of the wolf. He was sure that it looked just like the ones depicted in the wall scrolls in the Archives. Neither his grandfather nor Ukitake had ever made any mention of them, so he had always assumed that they were just paintings of ordinary wolves, nothing extraordinary. The wall scrolls hung in his private study within the Archives, so they were something that he saw regularly, but if he was hallucinating, he would have thought that it would have been about something different, not about a wolf painted on a wall scroll.

Soft chiming noises reached Byakuya ears. He took note of his surroundings. Dozens of glass fuurin wind chimes hung outside the shop, and a shop opposite it had metal ones. He looked around and saw that most of the shops specialised in metal or glass products.

"And here we are!" Renji exclaimed.

When they had set off earlier, Byakuya did not know what to expect, but he did not think that a fuurin craftsman was it. He wondered what business Renji had with them. Summer was nearly over, so there was little need for fuurin until next spring.

"You're gonna get wet if you stay out there," Renji said.

"Excuse me?" Byakuya asked.

"Rain's coming. You better get inside if you don't want to get caught in it."

Byakuya looked up. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, but he was not about to take a chance at getting sick. That would only prolong his stay in the spirit realm. He entered the shop. It was small, but well looked after. Dozens of fuurin of various colours, shapes and sizes were displayed on shelves or hung from the rafters. It was also quite warm inside.

"Renshi!" A shrill voice shouted.

Byakuya saw a little girl about Rukia's age at the counter. Her green hair was odd, as was the red-ish mark that ran under her eyes and the scar half hidden beneath her fringe. He stood silently as the girl ran over to Renji and jumped a short distance, confident that the youkai would catch her.

Renji caught her with one arm and let out a laugh.

"Hey there brat," the youkai said affectionately. He placed her on his hip and lowered his head until she pulled the skull off of his head. "Where are Pesche and Dondochakka?"

"Dey're in the back," the girl said. "D'you bring some with you, Renshi?"

Byakuya was confounded by her speech. It was horrible. Rukia, while still a five year old, could talk better. He watched as Renji interacted with the girl. It was easy to understand why Rukai had taken such a liking to the youkai.

"D'you bring a fwend, Renshi?" the girl asked.

Renji moved around so that the girl was facing Byakuya properly. "Nel, this is Byakuya. Byakuya, Nel."

"Pleased to meet you," Byakuya said politely.

"Is he Renshi's fwend, fwend?"

Renji blushed and looked away. "No, he isn't."

Nel smiled and looked at Byakuya with big, hazel eyes. "Byakuya is vewy pwetty."

Before Byakuya could stop himself, a blush formed on his cheeks. Renji noticed and laughed.

"Alright brat," the youkai said, "I need you to get Pesche for me."

"Ok!"

Nel jumped out of Renji's arm and ran off. Byakuya busied himself by looking at the various displays. He did not wish to deal with the youkai after that embarrassing act a few moments prior. In his peripheral vision, he noticed that Renji had gone over to the counter and placed the chest on it and unwound the furoshiki.

"I found Pesche!" Nel exclaimed as she returned.

Nel pulled in a long man with blonde hair and purple-hued skin. Byakuya assumed that he was Pesche.

"Ah, Renji-sama what a surprise," Pesche said as Nel pulled him along by his sleeve. "We didn't expect you to fulfil the order so quickly."

Renji waved a hand dismissively. "I had time to kill. Besides, Hirako and Kyouraku wanted them urgently."

"That's true," Pesche agreed. "They probably just want them in order to prepare for next year's season."

Byakuya watched as Renji opened the chest and drew out a glass fuurin. The design painted on the inside of the ball was intricate and eye-catching. He came to the realisation that the glass balls in Renji's room were unfinished fuurin that he had yet to paint.

"Ah," Pesche exclaimed. "As always, you do remarkable work, Renji-sama."

Renji put the fuurin back into the chest and closed the lid. "Just send this back up to the castle for me sometime."

"Of course, of course, but won't you stay for some tea? Your companion must be weary from all the walking."

Renji looked over his shoulder at Byakuya. "Another time, Pesche, I have work to do."

"Have a safe trip home then, Renji-sama."

Byakuya waited for Renji to pull the skull back into place before he walked over to the youkai's side. The youkai left first and he followed. A rumble sounded in the air. Byakuya looked up and saw that the sky was darkened by rain clouds.

"Damn," Renji said. "I thought we had more time before it would start to rain. There's no way we'll make it back to the castle before it starts to rain."

"You neglected to bring an umbrella with, didn't you?" Byakuya asked, even though he knew the answer.

"Well, yeah. I didn't expect us to be out this long."

Byakuya sighed. "Then how are…"

Rain started to pour down in sheets and Byakuya quickly ducked underneath the fuurin store's roof to avoid getting completely drenched. Renji soon joined him.

"I know a good tea house not too far from here," Renji suggested.

"As long as it is dry and we can stay until the rain ceases."

Renji led the way as they ran through the empty streets. Byakuya noticed that the wolf was running beside him. He stopped running and stared at the wolf. It stopped alongside and stared up at him. He was vaguely aware that Renji was calling out to him, but the words sounded muffled. The rain created a haze around him in a manner that seemed like he could only see the wolf clearly.

The wolf's fur was not affected by rain at all. Byakuya looked into its eyes and heard a voice.

_Kuchiki-dono. _

Byakuya gasped as the voice filled his mind.

_Kuchiki-dono,_ the voice repeated.

Byakuya was unable to see the cold from the rain. He stood there looking into the wolf's eyes. He could not find the willpower to look away. The same golden vapour swirled around the wolf, making the creature look luminescent.

_Will you come with me, Kuchiki-dono?_

Against his better judgement, Byakuya reached out a hand to touch the wolf. A hand gripped his shoulder and yanked him back. He blinked. The voice disappeared, as did the wolf. Byakuya felt as if all his energy had been drawn out of him. He felt cold and wet. His entire body was shaking, his fingers twitching. Unable to support his own weight any longer, Byakuya felt himself begin to fall. A pair of arms wrapped about him and he looked up to see that Renji had caught him and was speaking to him.

Byakuya could not make out the words. He was too tired to try and discern them. He let exhaustion take over and slipped into a dark, deep sleep.

**I'm so glad that's done. I hope you all enjoyed it. I know I ended it on a cliff-hanger, but I needed to stop somewhere. This chapter is longest so far. As I stated in the opening A/N, I'll be travelling to Thailand, so updates will be less frequent, but I won't abandon this story. I sacrificed some much needed sleep to finish this before I fly out in a few days. **

**A note on Japanese behaviour: it is customary to present a gift to a person in both hands, so that's the reason why Renji scolded Jackie for her poor behaviour. **

**As usual, reviews and constructive criticism are much appreciated.**

**See you all when I see you!**


	6. Hall of the Baboon King

**Title: The Baboon King and the Cherry Blossom**

**Rating: M**

**Summary: Byakuya is quite content with his life as a resident priest at the shrine. With Gin, a kitsune, as a friend, times are never dull. With the arrival of a mysterious cloaked figure at the dead of night, things are about to get more interesting for Byakuya. **

**A/N: Hey-hey people! Look whose back. This chapter may be short, but I thought you guys deserved something. I hope you all enjoy! Thank you to monoke, Eva Galana and Nirina Illusier for reviewing. Sorry for not responding to the reviews. **

**Chapter 05: Hall of the Baboon King**

Renji sat quietly and watched Byakuya sleep. He had carried the human back to Pesche and Dondonchakka's shop because it was the nearest and safest place at that moment in time. He wanted to know why Byakuya suddenly lost consciousness, especially since he took drastic measures to ensure that nothing would happen to the human.

Byakuya stirred in his sleep and moaned. Renji frowned. As far as he could tell, the human had not contracted any fever, nor could he sense any kind of parasitic spirit that could have been dwelling in Byakuya. Hanatarou would have to thoroughly examine him again once they returned to the castle. At that thought, Renji looked outside. The rain was heavy and showed no signs of stopping any time soon.

"Renshi?" Nel asked from outside the room.

"Come on in brat," he replied.

Nel opened the fusuma and slowly pattered inside. Renji looked over at her. Her eyes were big and filled with tears and her bottom lip was pushed out in a big pout. It was a cute sight to see. He motioned for her to sit next to him, which she hurriedly did.

"Is he ok?" Nel asked.

Renji sighed. He had asked himself that same question at least a hundred times over in the last two hours. He had wanted Byakuya to have a little fun. _It was a stupid idea to think I could protect him outside of the castle walls_, Renji thought. He had the Greater Council breathing down his neck and demons popping up along the border of his territory. He couldn't afford to spend so much time worrying over a single human.

"Renshi?"

As he let out another sigh, Renji looked at Nel and gave her a weak smile.

"He just needs rest, that's all," he replied. "We should leave him for now."

Renji stood and picked Nel up with his tail and carried her behind him. He knew that she liked it. He smiled as she tried to stifle her giggles until they were out of earshot from Byakuya. He set her down as soon as they reached the main room where Pesche set out a fresh pot of tea and a few snacks. Renji sat down and took his cup of tea in hand.

"How is Byakuya-sama holding up?" Pesche asked.

"Everything seems to be normal," Renji said, "but I can't be sure."

"I see."

Renji watched as Nel devoured her onigiri. There was little that could get her down for long. It was reassuring to him in a way. He turned his attention to his tea. Slowly, he inhaled the steam that rose from it and its aroma. Jasmine. It was calming, but if he was honest with himself, he would have asked Pesche for sake instead. It was hardly the time to drink though.

"You won't him if mind I keep him here until he wakes up or this rain stops, will you?" Renji asked.

"Of course not!" Pesche exclaimed. "It would be a great honour to have one of Renji-sama's guests in our care."

Renji smiled. "Thanks. I didn't want to cause you trouble, but the castle is the last place he needs to at the moment."

Pesche nodded and hummed. Renji closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax for a moment. The fuurin shop was the only place outside of his quarters where he could drop all his defences. He considered himself lucky that the trio had stumbled into the town all those years ago. He could hardly imagine what he would have done with himself if he didn't have his work with Dondonchakka and Pesche.

"However," Pesche started, "in the last few hours, there have been rumours going around. I don't mean to pry, but some of them are concerning."

"Ah, rumours spread like wildfire around here," Renji said with a chuckle. "It's almost as bad as the capital."

Pesche was quiet for a moment. Renji noticed how Pesche was staring into his tea cup. He could guess what the rumours were about. There were two possibilities. Firstly, it could be about the demons encroaching on the Japanese part of the spirit realm. Secondly, and the most likely one, was that the rumours were about Byakuya and the fact that he had dragged the human around town earlier.

"Well, I'll try to pry too much," Pesche started, "so I think what I'm most curious about is the necklace Byakuya-sama is wearing. There are conflicting stories about it."

Renji propped his head against his fist. "Oh?"

"Yes, some say that it is a means for you to harvest his ikigimo."

Renji laughed heartily, he could not help it.

"Was so fwunny, Renshi?" Nel asked.

"Nel-sama, why don't you see if Dondonchakka needs help downstairs," Pesche said.

"But Nel wans to know why Renshi is laughing!" Nel protested.

"Nel-sama, please," Pesche pleaded. "If you help Dondonchakka, I'll make you some cake later, ok?"

"Yay! Cake!"

Renji calmed down and watched Nel leave. He waited until Nel had disappeared down the stairs before he spoke again.

"If I had wanted him for something like the ikigimo, I would have eaten his liver long ago," Renji said. "I won't deny that Byakuya has power, but those who try to obtain power through ikigimo disgust me."

"Well, that is good to hear. I never did understand why one had to eat the liver here, where we come from, we eat the heart."

"Think of it this way," Renji started, "people believe different things. The thought process of a human in the western countries is different to here in the east. In the west, the purity of the heart takes precedence, where as in the east, it is the purity of the soul, not the earthly body. If you want a more detailed account, you'll have to speak to someone who's actually studied this. Now, what about the other rumours?"

Pesche sighed and quickly moved his hair from his face. "Well, the elderly say that it's been infused with your aura to warn off those that would seek to harm or claim Byakuya-sama. They say that it acts like marker to show that the human belongs to you in a sense, but they are conflicted about why you would do that."

Renji hummed. He figured that the older youkai within Touno would be able to guess the reason behind his actions. He was just thankful that they were not going around telling everyone about it. If things got too out of hand, he would have to deal with it, but as is, the rumours were harmless. The ikigimo rumour did bother him though. He thought that his subjects had known well enough to know he would never resort to just barbaric means.

"Forgive me for imposing on a private matter," Pesche said.

"There's no need to worry, Pesche, Renji said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Besides—"

A scratching noise came from the small balcony behind Pesche. Renji sighed. He was up and got his cloak. Pesche opened the fusuma and a blue fuurin flew in and hovered in front of Renji. Without really paying attention to what he was doing, Renji took the small lacquer cylinder from the fuurin's neck and took out the not inside.

_Get your ass back here now! _

Renji crushed the note and pulled his cloak on. He knew that he was behind on his schedule, but he would not be able to handle Zabimaru in his current state. There were times where he wished that he could snap Zabimaru's neck, but he also knew that without his brother, things would be more difficult.

"I need to get going," Renji said. "Thanks again for looking after Byakuya for me. I'll send Hantarou over as soon as this rain lets up."

Renji did not wait to hear what Pesche had to say. He jumped from the balcony and landed on the roof of the house in front of him. Within seconds, his cloak was wet and weighing him down. He ran on the rooftops, occasionally jumping over the street to change his route. He was careful with his foot placements, because the last thing he needed was to fall. He would not get injured, it had more to do with the fact that he did not want to waste any more time than he had to.

He reached the town's edge quicker than he had anticipated and jumped down onto the ground and went straight into a sprint up the mountain. Renji slowed down once the castle walls came into view. He slowed down more and briskly walked out of the forest and through the gates.

"Renji."

Renji did not need to see the person to know who was addressing him. He had hoped he would have had time to change before he needed to interact with Zabimaru. With a heavy sigh, he walked on through the courtyard, ignoring his brother.

"Oi, I'm trying to talk to you!" Zabimaru shout from the other side of the courtyard.

_Why do you think I'm ignoring you?_ Renji thought. He knew that if it was urgent, then Zabimaru would have left the safety of the roof and talked to him while he was in the rain. Renji picked up his pace and entered the castle. He made for his chambers and relaxed somewhat when Jackie fell in line behind him silently.

"Zabimaru isn't pleased," Jackie stated.

"Is he ever?" Renji replied.

"That's true, but he does have a good reason this time."

Renji decided to not talk about it any further and pulled the skull off of his head and ran his fingers through his tenugui. He was wet from head to toe – literally. He opened the fusuma to his chambers and shrugged off his cloak and left if open over a chest to dry. He quickly discarded his cold, wet clothes and changed into fresh ones.

Renji just about tied on his tenugui when Jackie came into the dressing room.

"So, where's your little human?" Jackie asked.

Renji rolled his eyes and finished tying the knot. "He's at Pesche's."

"Why would you leave the human alone with those idiots?"

"Jackie," Renji paused and rubbed his temples, "I didn't have much of a choice. He fainted in the middle of the fucking street and hasn't woken up yet."

Jackie scoffed and crossed her arms. "He fainted?"

"This isn't funny, Jackie. He was really out of it before he fainted. It was almost like he was looking at something. It looked like he was about to reach out to something."

"So, you don't really know what happened?" Jackie asked.

"No, I don't. I couldn't see much because of the rain."

Renji faced her, but looked away to fetch another cloak. Most of the time, he wore the hihi fur cloak, but he had another cloak made of a baneko of the tiger variety for situations like he was currently in. He pulled it out of its chest. It was a lot heavier than his other cloak, and it did not hold the same sentimental value, but it would do the trick.

"How many are already here?" Renji asked as he arranged the cloak over his shoulders.

"They're all just waiting for you," Jackie said with a large grin.

"Shit."

"Now you know why Zabimaru is pissed."

Renji glared at her. He did not plan on staying out of the castle as long as he did. The events that had occurred had been beyond his control, but he had to remember that Zabimaru and Jackie did not have the highest regard for humans. The only thing that mattered to them was that he was late for an important meeting and that Byakuya was outside of the castle without their direct supervision.

Renji and Jackie left his chambers and proceeded to the main hall.

"I want Hanatarou to go out to Pesche's as soon as possible to examine Byakuya," Renji ordered. "Get someone to inform Arisawa of her transfer to the Karasu Tengu Security Division. I need them to get off of my back. If they complain about the fact that I'm only sending them one transferee, remind them that I can always take her back if they don't appreciate her."

"Do I look like your personal assistant?" Jackie sneered. "I don't get paid to do your menial tasks."

Renji looked over his shoulder and grinned at Jackie. "How about a barrel of that beer you like?"

Jackie glared at him. He knew he had her. There were few things that she liked and Renji tried his hardest to find out what they were so that he could exploit them when the situation called for it. He would not call it blackmail per say, he liked to think he just knew how to play his cards right.

"Tch," was only response given.

Renji faced forward once more and turned his attention to the large doors before him. Various emissaries were waiting behind those doors. He knew for a fact that Amon, an emissary of the oni, would be among them. Normally, Renji would not have had a problem with that, but they were not holding the meeting under normal circumstances. Amon was bound to ask after Byakuya. Word would get out that there was an onmyouji in the spirit realm once more and not just an onmyouji either, he head of the Kuchiki clan. It would place Byakuya and Renji himself in a very precarious position.

"Get your head out of the clouds, ahou!"

Renji clicked his tongue and looked to his brother. Zabimaru walked over to him, giving Renji the opportunity to observe his brother. The only resemblance they shared was the shape of their eyes and jaw. Zabimaru was shorter than his older brother and not as wide in his shoulders. He had white long white hair that was usually kept loose and bright yellow eyes. The markings on his skin were purple and not as hard or as broad as the ones on Renji's body.

"I was thinking of the meeting," Renji retorted.

Zabimaru stormed up to Renji, grabbing one of the fangs of the baneko cloak and yanked the other down to his level.

"If you were worried about the meeting, you would have been here hours ago!" Zabimaru shouted. "But no, you had to go out and play with your little human, who you decided to return without!"

Renji frowned and pulled Zabimaru's hand away. He kept a tight grip on his brother's wrist and looked him in the eyes.

"I don't have time for this shit," he said, "if you want to know what happened, ask Jackie." He let go of Zabimaru's wrist and stepped back. "If you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend."

Renji turned his back on Zabimaru and stepped towards the doors. They opened and he stepped inside. The hall was vast, filled with polished wooden floors, large red pillars, a handful of large, life-like statues of nue and of course, the throne. The emissaries sat on zabutou, in three rows before the raised throne with a small table before them to hold all their various paraphernalia.

With his head held high, Renji walked to his throne. He walked up the steps and stood still. He gazed at the large painting of the mountain range that dominated the wall behind his throne. Taking a deep breath, be turned around and sat down. He regarded the emissaries that bowed down to him, touching their foreheads to the floor. Well, Amon bent his head as low as he could without leaving scratch marks on the floor. Zabimaru took his place before the steps to the throne.

The meeting began. The meetings always started with reports on trade and other such affairs. Renji was silent for the most part. It was not that he was uninterested; he just had more pressing matters on his mind than the price of a bag of rice.

"And now for the last point on the agenda," Zabimaru announced, "the recent increase of demon activity on Japanese territory."

Renji sat up straighter.

Amon bowed his head. "If I may, Zabimaru-sama?"

Zabimaru acknowledged the oni and waved for him to speak.

"A few days ago, two demons entered the human realm, more specifically Tokyo," Amon reported. "One of my people happened to be in the area when they appeared. The witness engaged with the demons, but ultimately lost. Two onmyouji also arrived on the scene not too long."

A murmur rose throughout the hall. Renji did not want to know what they were thinking.

"Haaaa," Rangiku yawned, refilling her sake cup. "Your witness got his ass kicked by the demons and then two onmyouji showed up? That's kind of suspicious."

Amon frowned at Rangiku. Oni and baneko were not the best of allies, but behind closed doors, the two of them were good drinking buddies. Renji silently snickered. He watched as Rangiku smiled into her sake cup and Amon looked down at his notes once more.

"As I was saying," Amon started. "The onmyouji were attacked by the demons as well. The older onmyouji disappeared, but the younger one happened to stumble on the witness. The onmyouji had gotten injured during his encounter with the demon, and had supposedly lost all his equipment because it was not reported that any shikigami were around him at that time."

"The onmyouji did not engage with the witness, but fought a human that appeared with the demon. The onmyouji and the other human seemed to be acquaintances of some sort–"

"Obviously not the good kind," Rangiku interjected.

Amon rearranged his papers and closed his eyes. "During their altercation, the witness took the opportunity to attack the human from behind while the onmyouji attacked the human from the front and while the witness was crossing over, the onmyouji accidentally crossed over as well."

A tangible silence filled the hall. Renji sighed. He was going to get an earful, especially from certain high-ranking people once the news reached their ears. He closed his eyes and shut everything out for a moment. He opened his eyes and saw that Amon was looking at him.

"The witness and the onmyouji appeared on your territory, Hihi-ou," Amon said coolly.

_And there it is_, Renji thought bitterly.

"What?" Rangiku shouted, her ears erect while she sat up and sent her sake bottle rolling away. "You mean you knew about this?"

"Of course," Renji answered. "He was badly injured when I found him. He only just woke up a few days ago. I haven't asked him about the demons yet, because at this point, he won't say anything. I'm hoping he'll give up the information voluntarily, or I'll have to rely on an outside source to get the information for me."

"May we have an audience with this onmyouji?" Amon asked.

Renji frowned. That was the last thing he wanted to happen. He was in enough trouble already; he did not want to dig his own grave as well.

"He's indisposed at the moment," Renji said calmly.

"That's convenient," Rangiku commented.

"Is there something the matter, Matsumoto?" Renji asked.

Rangiku smiled up as him and held up a new sake bottle. "You've always liked humans. Some people might think you've gone soft."

Renji was about to say something when Zabimaru stood and drew everyone's attention to him.

"Matsumoto-san," Zabimaru said, "the onmyouji is suffering from a parasitic spirit, and is receiving treatment, and if you still have doubts, we will gladly show him to you. You will not, however, question Hihi-ou in that manner. You should know your place. I will arrange for the onmyouji to be brought before all of you once he recovers."

Rangiku backed off and grumbled into her sake cup.

"This meeting is adjourned," Zabimaru announced.

"No it ain't!" a voice shouted from the entrance of the hall.

Renji looked up and saw Bazz-B.

_Well shit_, Renji mentally cursed. _Things have gone from bad to worse to fucked up beyond any recognition. _

Bazz-B walked into the hall and past the emissaries before he stopped right before the steps infront of Renji. He had to admit that the kid had guts. If he remembered correctly, the boy was half Valkyrie and half konjichou, so all-in-all; Bazz-B was nothing but trouble.

Renji eyed Bazz-B's outfit. It consisted of a white thigh-length trench coat, white pants, white gloves, a pair of black military boots and a pair of black arm bands with skull designs on them. He looked every bit like a punk, and the fact that he had stormed in, uninvited, and had yet to bow before those that outranked him only reinforced the idea.

"What are you doing here, Rooster?" Renji asked, letting frustration colour his voice.

"Not pleased to see me, Monkeyface?" Bazz-B countered.

Renji could see how Zabimaru was twitching. The only reason his brother was not throwing the foreigner out was because Zabimaru respected him as a fellow warrior - nothing more, nothing less. He could not say that he was any more pleased to see Bazz-B than Zabimaru was, but then again, it was rare for Zabimaru to be happy to see someone.

"They kick you already?" Renji asked.

"In your dreams, old man," Bazz-B said with a grin. "I'm here on official business."

"If it's 'official business' then why am I surprised to see you here?" Renji asked. "Can't you people send a messenger beforehand? I don't like uninvited guests, especially Roosters."

"I'm here because that damned Kuchiki onmyouji created a fuck tonne of work for us back home!"

Renji almost let his composure slip. He had managed to keep it quiet that Byakuya was a Kuchiki, but now the cat was out of the bag. He was going to give the kid the beating of his life.

"Oh? How exactly do the actions of one onmyouji affect the German territories?" Renji asked.

"We believe he's connected to the witch doctor Zommari Le Roux," Bazz-B stated. "Zommari has been causing a lot of problems in Europe lately. Unlike you, there is a clear, strict division between Heaven, Hell and everything in-between. Zommari has been breaking down more than a few barriers – enough to start worrying."

"And how is this Kuchiki onmyouji connected to Zommari?" Renji really wanted to know what evidence they had against Byakuya. "Well?"

"For starters, he's here isn't he?" Bazz-B pointed out.

_Fuck, it's going to hard to beat that statement down_, Renji thought. _Onmyoujis haven't been in the spirit realm for centuries, and now one suddenly crosses over on the same night as a demon attack. This is not looking good._

"Oh, looks like I was right to be concerned, Renji-kun," Rangiku sang.

Renji slipped a hand underneath the baneko cloaks teeth and pinched his nose. He would not see things their way. He would stand up for Byakuya until the human had a chance to defend himself properly, but the situation was not looking that great.

"Is there another reason you're here?" Renji asked. He could barely contain his anger.

"No," was the curt answer.

"This meeting is adjourned." Renji stood and glared at Bazz-B before he left the castle and to the safety of Pesche's shop.

**O0O0O0O0O0O0O0O**

Renji took a deep breath and blew in to the pipe while twirling it in-between his fingers. There were few things that calmed him like blowing glass did. He worked quietly alongside Dondonchakka. Three days had passed since the meeting. He had returned to the castle when he had work that needed to be completely, but he returned to Pesche's shop every day to check up on Byakuya.

"We're not gonna to need to make more chime for a long time, dontcha know?" Dondonchakka said as he inspected the cooling glass balls.

Renji did not answer him, because he knew by now that that was just how Dondonchakka spoke. It used to be annoying, but now he just treated it as background noise.

"Have Kyouraku and Hirako received their orders yet?" Renji asked.

"Dontcha know?" Dondonchakka asked. "They sent letters to thank ya fer the hard work."

"No, I didn't know! That's why I asked!"

"Don't yell at me!" Dondonchakka cried.

"I'm not yelling at you, baka."

Renji sighed as Dondonchakka cried all the more, hugging him from behind and asked if he truly was an idiot. He knew better than to answer that question. He looked up at the glass he was trying to blow and saw that he had spent too much time talking to Dondonchakka.

"Shit," he cursed.

Renji shrugged Dondonchakka off and threw away the wasted glass. He put the pipe away. He was too frustrated to do it correctly. He looked over to the painting station. He would attempt to do one chime and if it did not work out, he would just give up and sit with Byakuya. He sat down on the tatami mats and picked up the nearest glass ball. He stared at its transparent surface and the spots of light it reflected.

_I wonder how that brat of a kid is doing, _Renji wondered. He knew that Gin would be there to keep an eye over her, but the human would have found Byakuya disappearance suspicious by now. He met the brat one and he was already worried over her. A part of him knew the reason why. She had Byakuya's kid sister, so if anything happened to her, it would affect him. He never wants to see Byakuya sad.

_His face is too beautiful for it to have a sad expression,_ he thought.

Once Renji realised what he was thinking, he stopped that train of thought and pulled the tray of paints closer. He randomly selected a few colours and started painting the inside of the chime. His hands got a mind of their own and before he knew it, he had finished painting the chime. Renji sighed as he looked at the small, white rabbit he had painted on the now pink chime.

Renji carefully set the chime down to dry and then stood up. He left the workshop and went upstairs, he found Nel sleeping on the floor by Pesche's side while the latter was going over the shop's finances. He left them to their business and quietly slipped into Byakuya's room. He was still sleeping.

Renji sat down beside the futon and watched the human sleep. He was worried. Hanatarou had examined Byakuya and had found no abnormalities. Originally, he had planned on sending for a doctor from the capital, but after the meeting, he knew that that was probably his worst course of action at the moment. He just had to wait it out and hope that Byakuya would wake up soon.

He sat there for a long time, just watching over Byakuya. He thought of nothing in particular, but Bazz-B's words were still ringing in his ears. He had yet to hear Byakuya's side of the story, but he hoped that the human was not a part of Zommari's plan. Renji started when the human suddenly moaned and moved around a bit. For a moment, he hoped that Byakuya was waking up, but the human remained fast asleep, only now he was moaning, trashing around and working up a sweat.

"No," Byakuya mumbled.

Renji pursed his lips. Byakuya was having a nightmare. There was little he could do, but he was not going to sit around and do nothing. Renji quickly pulled back the duvet and lay down beside Byakuya, pulled him into his chest and laying the human's head by his heart. His tail wrapped around Byakuya's waist while he had an arm wrapped around the human's shoulder and a hand carding through his hair.

"Shhh," Renji breathed, brushing his lips to Byakuya's forehead. "It's just a dream. You're safe here with me."

Byakuya continued to moan and move for a while, but he calmed down eventually. Renji wished his words were true, but all they were were sweet nothings, pretty little lies. He knew that Byakuya was not having a dream, and he knew that he could not protect Byakuya, no matter how hard he tried.

Renji had to admit that it was nice to hold Byakuya against his body. He had not held someone that close in centuries. The only thing he would regret was the fact that Byakuya would have no recollection of how he was comforting the human. He was well aware of the fact that Byakuya did not trust him. It would make the situation more difficult, but Renji would try his hardest to win Byakuya's trust.

Renji had to laugh at the irony of it all. With a small smile on his lips, Renji kissed Byakuya's forehead and inhaled the scent of his hair.

"Sleep well, Sen."

**Dunduundunnnn! I have never been gladder to finish a chapter than this one. Honestly. Between moving to halfway around the world, starting a new job and finding an apartment, I had writer's block. It was one major pain. I'll be updating more regularly now, so you guys won't have to wait another two months before you get a new chapter. **

**I'm also sorry about any grammar mistakes. I think that's gone down the drain since I only get to speak proper English for about one hour a day. **

**I love having feedback and knowing you guys are enjoying the story, so please leave a review. **

**See ya soon! **


	7. Out of the Black

**Title: The Baboon King and the Cherry Blossom**

**Rating: M**

**Summary: Byakuya is quite content with his life as a resident priest at the shrine. With Gin, a kitsune, as a friend, times are never dull. With the arrival of a mysterious cloaked figure at the dead of night, things are about to get more interesting for Byakuya. **

**A/N: I'm really sorry for the long wait for this update. On the bright side, you have an update at long last. Wait, that might not be the best way to say that, but I really am sorry for the long wait on this. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, faved and put up alerts for this story.**

**I also regret ever deciding to name chapters. **

**Chapter 06: Out of the Black**

Warmth. That was the first sensation Byakuya experienced as he regained his consciousness. He let out a heavy sigh and breathed in an unfamiliar scent. There was constant soft sound in his ears. His body felt tired, form what he did not know. He flexed his hands and frowned. He was certainly not gripping a bed sheet.

With no small effort, Byakuya opened his eyes, blinking them a few times to rid the sleep from them. Once he could see, a muscled chest and black markings filled his vision. If he had had the strength, he would have bolted up and assaulted the man he was lying on, but he could hardly keep his eyes open. He was embarrassed by his position. He was half lying on top of the man. He craned his neck and saw Renji's face turned to the side, his hair partially undone. Byakuya sighed. The only upside to his situation was that he was not lying in such an intimate position with a stranger, not that the fact that he was lying on Renji was reassuring, but it was the lesser of two evils.

"You're awake," Renji mumbled.

Byakuya nodded. "Yes, but barely."

"Alright then," Renji groaned, clearly still half sleep.

Byakuya tensed as the youkai wrapped his arms around him. He could not believe Renji's nerve. He was not a life-sized doll to be coddled when the youkai felt like it. He forced himself up, but the youkai had a better hold on him than he originally thought. Byakuya shook and pulled Renji's arms off only to be pulled back to the youkai's chest by his tail. It felt strange to have Renji's tail wrapped around his waist.

"You work too hard," Renji mumbled.

Byakuya frowned. He had no idea what the youkai was talking about. It had been a long time since he had had a partner to wake up next to, but he had never thought that he would wake up in the arms of a youkai king.

"Just lie here with me a little longer, for once," he continued.

_I've had enough_, Byakuya thought. It was bad enough that he was in such an intimate position with Renji in the first place, and now he was being mistake for someone else. He needed to get away from Renji.

"Unhand me this instant!" Byakuya ordered, pulling the youkai's ear

Renji yelped and let go of Byakuya to cover his ear. Once he was free, Byakuya stood up, or rather, he tried to. His legs were weak and trembling, so he was stuck in a sitting position, but at least he was now out of Renji's reach.

"What the hell was that for?" Renji demanded.

Byakuya kept his back to the youkai. He made sure his voice was particularly impartial. "I should be the one to ask you that question. You were the one holding me to your chest. You pulled me back when I tried to get up and then you proceeded to talk in your sleep."

Before Renji could try to talk back, Byakuya stood calmly walked out of the room. When he closed the shoji behind him, he heard the youkai curse to himself. He stood there for a moment and collected his thoughts. He had no idea where he was.

"Bya's up!" Nel shouted.

Before Byakuya could react accordingly, Nel jumped on him, forcing him to catch her and place her on his hip. He could not let the child fall on her face after all, but she was heavier than she looked.

"You should not run indoors," Byakuya reprimanded. "You could hurt yourself."

"Das no fun Bya!" Nel whined, making small fists and throwing her arms in the air. "Bya needs maw fun!"

"I think I can manage with a little less fun," he said.

Nel scrunched up her face. Byakuya could see that she was not impressed with his answer. Her reaction made him feel better. She was almost like Rukia, with the exception that his sister was better-behaved. As he thought about her, Byakuya started to worry for her all over again. There was only so much Gin could handle, he was a kitsune after all and not visible to other humans. He found himself hoping for the first and last time that Urahara had made one of his unannounced appearances by the shrine in his absence. The man was too eccentric in his opinion, but Byakuya had to give credit where it was due and admit that Urahara was a reliable person, at times.

"Is Bya hunwy?" Nel asked.

Byakuya looked down at her. "I would not mind some food."

"Hold it," Renji said.

Byakuya turned slightly and saw that Renji had opened the shoji door and was leaning against the frame with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Is there something the matter, Abarai-ou?" Byakuya politely inquired.

"Yes, there is," the youkai replied. "Nel, it's way past your bedtime and I know for a fact that Pesche and Dondonchakka are asleep. How were you planning to feed Byakuya anyway? You would've been a poor host if he had to make his own food."

"But Renshi," Nel whined.

"No 'but's from you brat."

Byakuya felt how Nel's body started to tremble. He wondered if she was going to throw a tantrum, if so, it was in his best interests to put the child down. As far as he could tell, she was a youkai and he had no idea what kind of grasp she had on her powers. It was a very high possibility that she would lose control if she got angry.

"Now Nel," Byakuya started, "it's important to get enough sleep. If you do not, you will not grow up into a proper, strong lady. You should go to bed, and do not worry, I am sure Abarai-ou can ensure that I eat."

Nel pouted and looked from Byakuya to Renji. She nodded and slowly walked to her room once Byakuya put her down.

"You have to teach me that," Renji said.

Byakuya ran a hand through his hair and avoided looking at the youkai directly. "I raised Rukia, so I know how to handle certain problems better than others."

"Right," Renji mumbled.

The two of them stood in an awkward silence. Byakuya decided that he was not going to be the one to break it. He was still annoyed at having woken up in Renji's arms. He wondered what they were doing in the same bed in the first place. The last thing he remembered before he woke up was the wolf with the golden eyes. Knowing that, it was safe for him to assume that he had lost consciousness and Renji had brought him to Pesche's shop. The only question was why.

"I suppose I have to feed you now," Renji said.

Byakuya did not say a word. He looked at the youkai with a cold glare.

"Hey now, there's no need to look at me like that! If you're mad about earlier, just allow me to explain."

Byakuya continued to glare at the youkai, but inclined his head to signal Renji to continue.

"Alright," Renji started, rubbing the back of his neck. "First of all, you've been asleep for about a week. When we were going to the tea house, you just suddenly stopped and the next thing I knew, you were unconscious. I carried you back here because the castle was too far to carry you in the rain."

"That does not explain what you were doing in my futon," Byakuya plainly stated.

"I know! Just give me minute, I was getting to that." Renji paused and glanced at Byakuya's eyes. "You were having a nightmare. You calmed down after I held you, and I just fell asleep like that. I had no ulterior motive."

Byakuya glared at the youkai for a moment longer and then looked away. "I believe that you promised to see to my dinner."

Renji stared at the human. Byakuya would have smirked if he had had less control over his facial expressions. He guessed that Renji thought that he was going kick up more of a fuss over youkai sleeping the same futon, but he was too hungry.

"Oh, yeah, I did," Renji mumbled. "You would probably like a bath first though. I can't cook, and I'm not going to even try. I'm taking you out to dinner."

"Very well," Byakuya replied. "Show me to the bathroom and I shall see that I will be fit to be seen in public with the mighty Hihi-ou."

Renji paled. "I-I didn't mean it like that. I just… thought you would enjoy a bath."

Byakuya glanced at Renji. He had known exactly known what the youkai had meant, but he had decided to play around with him for a bit. It was surprisingly amusing. Byakuya kept his face impassive as he looked back to Renji.

"Either way, I still need you to show me the way."

"Right," the youkai murmured.

Byakuya stepped aside and let Renji walk in front of him, and from there, he could see the youkai's tail as it slowly twisted itself. He observed how the dim light shifted on the red-brown scales. It created the illusion that Renji's tail was a whip of fire that trailed behind him. As an onmyouji, Byakuya wondered how sharp the tips of those scales were, and how deep they could cut through flesh. As a human, he was merely curious about it in general, how much it would weigh, and the texture of the scales as he ran his fingers down the tail. Would he be able to feel the bumps and ridges of each individual scale, or would it be completely smooth? All those questions simultaneously ran through his as his eyes followed the tail's movements.

Byakuya turned his eyes upward and saw that Renji had not yet retied his hair. Clumps of hair has slipped from the hair tie, while the hair tie itself was askew and no longer sitting at the top of the youkai's head. _Sloppy_, he thought.

"Here we are," Renji said as he slid a fusuma panel aside. "I'll bring you some fresh clothes in a minute. Pesche washed the clothes you had worn the day you had fainted, so their pretty much clean."

"Pretty much?" Byakuya asked.

"Look," the youkai started, "I'm not fully awake here. Your clothes are clean, so don't worry."

Before Byakuya could try to rile Renji up any further, the youkai left. As he stood there, he looked Renji's back, his eyes looking over the youkai's tail and feet. He still had to get used to seeing such outlandish features. Seeing them in battle was one thing, but observing it as a part of daily life in the spirit realm was something else entirely.

Byakuya left those thoughts for the time being and entered the bathroom. A large bucket of hot water sat beside a small stool and a mirror. An assortment of soaps and jars were arranged on the bench on which the mirror sat. The furo bath was beyond the stood and filled with hot water. Quietly, he shut the fususma behind him and removed his sleeping yukata. Byakuya folded it and put it down on the empty bench beside him. He took the hand sized pail, he scooped up some of the water and poured it over his and repeated the actions until he has rinsed his entire body.

With his forearms resting on the tops of his thighs, Byakuya eyed the soaps. There was a selection of carved and painted soaps and two plain bars. The carved soaps were very accurate recreations of orchids, lotuses and other flowers. They looked very delicate, so much so that Byakuya could not bring himself to consider using them. He did not know if those craved soaps were there for a practical function or if they were purely decorative. He did not want to risk angering his hosts. They had been overly generous in allowing him to stay in their household for the week he was unconscious.

Byakuya took the beige herbal soap in hand and started washing his body. Once that was done, he scooped up another pail of water and rinsed off all the soap suds. He opened a few jars and scooped up what he assumed was shampoo. He gently massaged it into his hair, running his fingers through his hair to get rid of all the knots. He rinsed out his hair and stood up from the stool.

Dipping a toe into the water, Byakuya tested the bath's temperature. It was hotter than he would usually bath in, but he would not roast alive in it either. He got into the water and leisurely stretched out his limbs in the water. With his eyes closed, he put his let his head fall back and relaxed his body. He had not felt that relaxed since he had entered the spirit realm. The tips of his hair ticked his shoulders and collar bone as it swayed in the water. He wished he had a hair tie to at least twist his hair up into a bun to keep it from annoying him.

A soft knock sounded on the fusuma.

"Enter," Byakuya said.

Renji slid open the fusuma. Byakuya watched as the youkai kept his eyes trained on the floor and laid the clean clothes on the bench and quickly left without saying a single word. Not wanting to think more of it, he closed his eyes and continued to relax.

Byakuya stayed in the bath for a few more minutes before he got out. He dried himself and put on his clothes. He looked around and he could not see anything that resembled a brush, so he resorted to combing his fingers through his wet hair, ringing as much water from it as he could manage. Briefly, he looked in the mirror and found himself satisfied with his appearance.

Byakuya left the bathroom and was surprised to find Renji leaning against the wall opposite him, with his arms crossed over his chest. He noticed that the youkai had changed his clothes and fixed his hair. He had to admit that the dark brown colour of the yukata suited the youkai well.

"I need to get my cloak and then we can get going," Renji said.

Byakuya nodded and waited in the hallway as Renji left. He wondered why the youkai wore the cloak in public.

_He does not wear it around me, or while he is here, in Pesche's shop_, Byakuya thought. _As far as I can tell, he has no physical deformity, not even a scar, but then again…_

"Right," Renji said as he returned, "I should feed you. Human are very fragile things, right? They need to be fed and watered often."

"Excuse me?" Byakuya asked, glaring at the youkai.

_Fragile? Fed and watered? _

Byakuya felt anger start to bubble in his chest. He was not a helpless animal to be fussed over. He disliked it when he was looked down upon by others, and for some unfathomable reason, the fact that Renji, a youkai, was looking down on him, made him all the angrier.

"Uh, well," Renji started, surprised by Byakuya's reaction. "I didn't mean to offend you. I just said the first thing that popped into my head. Besides, I don't know all that much about basic human needs."

Byakuya was not convinced by that answer. He wondered how Rneji had managed to become a youkai king. He figured that it mainly had to do with brute strength. The youkai did not seem much of an intellectual. Byakuya decided to stay silent and watched as Renji rubbed the back of his neck.

"Come on," the youkai mumbled. "Don't look at me like that. It was an honest mistake."

Byakuya said nothing.

"I'll just take you to dinner," Renji said with a sigh and left for the stairs. "You're still hungry right?"

Byakuya just followed behind the youkai.

"I'll shut up now," Renji muttered.

Byakuya watched as Renji put on his cloak. He expected the youkai would do it in a more dramatic manner, but he was doing it the way Byakuya himself would put on a jacket; it was simply another menial task.

Renji motioned for Byakuya to follow him, which he did, albeit reluctantly. They left the shop and wandered about the streets. Byakuya took his time to observe his surroundings. The streets were lit by lanterns, and youkai were about, laughing and going about their own business. The town seemed different at night, almost as if the sinking of the sun brought about a livelier aura. It was hard for him to put it into words.

Byakuya was not as ease however. Youkai stopped their activities to stare him, while some glared at him with expressions of contempt. He knew that Renji's presence would deter any of them from attacking him, but he had his pride after all. He kept a certain distance from him and the youkai king. He did not want to appear as though he relied on the creature. He would sooner cut off a limb than stoop down to that level.

A spectral light appeared in Byakuya's peripheral vision.

It was a mist of golden light.

Byakuya turned his head to look at it over his shoulder. He did not dare stop walking. He had no idea what the wolf wanted. He was concerned over the fact that it seemed to know his name, but what confused him was the level of respect it had shown him.

The smell of cooked foods drifted in the air. Byakuya took more notice of his surroundings. The area seemed like one of the poorer districts of the town. He gazed into the food shops as they passed them. He wondered where Renji was taking him.

"Here we go," Renji said.

The youkai motioned for Byakuya to step beside him. He looked up. It was a yakiniku restaurant. He had nothing against them, but he had thought that someone of Renji's station would prefer something of a higher quality.

"Don't make a face like that," Renji teased. "The food's good and it has private dining areas."

Byakuya was unaware that he had 'made a face' as the youkai had put it. His face was as indifferent as usual, but he did not want to give the youkai cause to argue by rebutting that statement, so he kept quiet. Renji walked in and Byakuya followed.

"Welcome, how many are in- Hihi-ou!"

Byakuya looked round Renji. A young woman with large cat ears stood before them with a flustered expression. If he had to guess, he would say she was a baneko. He looked past her. Other patrons had stopped their activities and looked to see what the sudden commotion was about. Byakuya felt rather awkward. He hated attracting attention to himself, especially in public areas.

"I would like a private room," Renji said.

Byakuya looked at the hostess. She stood there for a while and then jumped into action.

"Yes, yes, of course," she said, "anything for you Hihi-ou."

Byakuya observed the patrons and décor. The patrons were made up of a variety of youkai, all of whom had stopped and stared. The only sound made was by the grilling foods on the tables. The silence may have been caused by Renji's presence, but there was no question as to who they were staring at. Byakuya kept his head high and his expression calm.

With hostess stood before a simple indigo shibori noren. Renji entered and held the flaps apart for Byakuya. He also entered the private room, but he did not acknowledge Renji or the hostess. He sat down and folded his hands in his lap. Byakuya watched at Renji spoke to the hostess. The youkai then let the noren fall back into place and sat down at the table as well.

"The food'll be here soon," Renji said.

"You ordered already?"

Renji nodded. "I'm not too sure what you like, so I just got something of everything."

Byakuya frowned at that. He understood that Renji would be the one to pay for everything, but he at least wanted the power to choose what he would eat. He longed to go home and be able to cook his own food. It was not that he particularly enjoyed cooking, but it was a relaxing chore, even if it was a necessity. His thoughts again wondered to Rukia's well-being.

"Are you sure this 'something of everything' is fit for human consumption?" Byakuya asked.

Renji chuckled and propped his elbow up onto the table. Byakuya disliked the fact that the youkai was still wearing the cloak. Its hood covered much of Renji's face and gave off an imposing aura. Before he could take another breath to speak, various baneko came into the room and laid out various dishes and a large chilled pitcher. Once they left, the youkai pulled off his hood and looked at Byakuya.

Byakuya did not know why, but he felt slightly better now that he could see the youkai's face.

_Perhaps I am starting to trust him too much_, he rationalised. _Only time will tell if that will tell if that will work in my favour. _

"Who do you expect to eat all this food?" Byakuya asked.

There was enough to feed three families.

"I don't know how much nutrition a human needs, or how much they eat," Renji said.

The youkai took the pitcher in hand and poured beer into their glasses. He offered a glass to Byakuya, who just looked at it. With a quiet huff, he accepted the glass and took a sip. It was not what he would normally drink, but it was cold, at least. Byakuya watched as Renji started to put bits of meat and vegetables on the grill.

"There's no need to look at the food like that," the youkai said with an amused timbre. "I just ordered the regular foods like beef, pork, chicken and squid. I didn't think you'd be up for trying the local specialties."

"You assumed correctly," Byakuya replied. "However, that is the second time you have said that I have a certain facial expression when I know that I in fact have a rather impassive expression. Why is that?"

Silence grew between them. Byakuya said nothing. He wanted to hear an answer. Renji's face had gone blank and his eyes dark. The youkai immersed himself with the task of grilling the food. Byakuya took another sip while he waited, but he kept his eyes on Renji.

"There's no particular reason," The youkai mumbled after a time.

Byakuya knew he was not going to get anything more on the subject out of the youkai, so he decided to leave it be for the moment. There were other things he wanted to ask in any case.

"Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?"

Renji looked up from the grill. "What kind of questions?"

"How much longer do I have to stay here?" Byakuya asked. He knew I would seem like an insult to the kind hospitality he had received, but he needed to go home.

Renji seemed disappointed by the question, and got a cold look in his eyes.

"Technically you've healed enough to cross over, but your arrival in here has made more than a few ambassadors concerned. I feel bad for saying this, but I can understand their concern."

Byakuya tried to look Renji in the eye, but the youkai was focused on the grilling food.

"What concern might that be?" Byakuya was curious. He did not think he posed that great a threat for the youkai to be concerned about.

"Some think that you're in league with Zommari and that it was your intention to cross over in the first place. Now, luckily for you, the oni that witnessed you skirmish with Zommari said that you two weren't on the friendliest terms, so that will help pour water over the flames."

Byakuya wanted to cringe at the thought of working together with Zommari. He would never stoop so low as to depend on demons in a fight. In his mind, that would be counterproductive to his work as an onmyouji.

"How does that prevent me from going home?" Byakuya asked. "The way I see it, that would eliminate the problem of me being here."

Renji chuckled. "I wish it was that easy. The ambassadors want to talk to you themselves, Akon especially since he is the ambassador of the oni and he spoke with the witness himself."

"I see."

Byakuya could understand why he had to stay, but only to a point. He assumed that all youkai would not be a friendly towards him as Renji had been. That would be problematic for him. He had to get home, and at that point, Byakuya was considering taking things into his own hands to get there.

"Well, now the atmosphere is all tense and depressing," Renji joked. "I hope you have other questions that are so heavy."

Byakuya figured that the youkai was right. They were supposed to be enjoying dinner.

"Why are you addressed as Hihi-ou?" Byakuya asked as he took another sip of his beer.

"You wouldn't believe it, but that actually started out as an insult," Renji said. "You know already know that I'm a nue, but have you seen any others around?"

Byakuya took a moment to think back to when he had walked around the castle and the town with Renji. "I don't believe I have."

"Exactly," Renji stated. "As far as we know, there are only two of us left, Zabimaru and myself. The majority of the population of this town are hihi. People started call me Hihi-ou because that is who I rule over. When they said that, they assumed I would never amount to much, but look at me now."

"Then why hide yourself under a cloak if you are proud of your accomplishments?"

Renji seemed surprised by the question. "That is kind of personal."

"Very well, I shall respect that."

Renji started a conversation of trivial things. The youkai asked about various things like Byakuya's age and his likes and dislikes, but he was mainly curious about the human world and how it had changed over the centuries.

"When was the last time you were in the human world?" Byakuya asked.

"Well, I think it was about four hundred years ago. I'm not too sure."

_Four hundred years?_ Byakuya repeated mentally. It was the same year of death as the person who had died beneath the shidarezakura tree. He wondered if Renji would know anything about it.

"You were on the shrine grounds recently," Byakuya stated. "Do you know of the large shidarezakura tree planted by the waterfall?"

"No," Renji answered, "I don't think I do. Why?"

"No reason."

_Perhaps Gin had just pulled another joke after all. _

**I know that's a rather abrupt way to end a chapter, but if I continue, it'll reach the point where I won't be able to end the chapter. So, what do you think of the not-quite date? It's not over yet but the rest of it will be put in the next chapter. I'll try to update quicker. **

**Reviews and constructive criticism is much appreciated. **

**See you soon! **


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